Claireification
by JessMissedHer
Summary: Sequel to Imprintation. Continue following Claire and Quil's journey to each other.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

 **Quil:**

Quil looked up toward the ceiling as he tried to keep any moisture out of his eyes. He cleared his throat roughly as he tried to force himself to not think of it as Caire leaving him. He could barely force his feet forward as he continued to move away from the spot she had left him in. He was looking up already but immediately pivoted so that he could see the board of incoming flights. Jacob's flight was twenty minutes ahead of schedule. _Perfect._ He quickly thought to himself as he took a deep breath filled with heavy emotion and sat down at the bench in front of the baggage carousel that Jacob's luggage would eventually come out on.

Quil spent the next forty-five minutes hanging around baggage claim, tossing the tennis ball that was still in his pocket from the day before, up in the air and trying unsuccessfully to not think about Claire currently boarding her flight while he fingered her promise bracelet in his hand and wondered what it would mean for them.

"Um…why do you have makeup on top of two ridiculously large hickeys?" Jake voice suddenly greeted him from behind before he had even started watching for him.

"Hey!" Quil greeted him excitedly as he stood to hug his oldest friend before grazing his now shoulder length hair with his hand as he pulled away. "Nice hair, Man. It's very Fabio."

"Yeah," Jacob laughed unfazed, "Nessie saw a picture of me from high school and suddenly she wants me to grow it back out again! Aw well… my dad would have liked to know that I grew it out long again at least one time, and it gives me a chance to teach the kids more of _our_ heritage instead of all the fifteenth century vampire crap Carlisle is always spewing on them!"

Quil had to laugh in response to just how bizarre Jacob's life truly was. At least he Quil would never have to worry about his kids learning more vampire than human history.

"So, Claire doesn't mess around does she?" Jake commented. He looked up at him in confusion before Jake gestured at his own neck and said, "That's some serious work there."

"Do me a favor and don't mention it. Claire clearly doesn't want anyone to know about it." Quil said while thinking of the makeup on the skin of his neck.

"Sure, sure." Jacob nodded unconcerned, "Where is Claire? I thought she would have come with you."

Quil had to bite the side of his cheek and look away before he cleared his throat so that he could speak.

"She just got on a plane… She's leaving for a while." His voice shook when he admitted it.

"You're kidding. What happened?" Jake asked sounding obviously confused.

"Bennett Callahan. That's what happened." Quil answered, suddenly irrationally frustrated.

"The kid? What did he do?" asked Jacob.

"He imprinted." Quil said as an explanation.

Jake just stared at him blankly for a solid thirty seconds before he said,

"Hold on. Let's get my bag and then you _need_ to catch me up on whatever the hell has been going on here. Do you have anything to drink? Because I have a feeling I'm definitely going to need a drink."

Quil nodded and said, "I have some beer at my place."

Jake gave him an unsatisfied look but then Quil remembered, "Oh, I have that bottle of bourbon my mom gave me for Christmas!"

"That'll work!" Jacob said eagerly as he pulled his bag off the carousel and followed Quil out to his car.

The drive back from Seattle with Jacob was filled with Quil telling him everything that had happened (in deep detail) over the past two weeks with the pack. They were only about twenty minutes to the Makah Reservation when Jake surprised him by asking,

"So, what's happening between you and Claire?"

"What do you mean?" Quil hedged.

He realized that he probably should have expected the question but didn't particularly want to answer it.

"Well two weeks ago she was dating this kid Bennett… who is now a wolf… and has an imprint…. who it sounds like Claire knows personally…. And she just got on a plane the same day…. _AND_ left you with two hickeys that are pulled so deep they look like they hurt…. So, what's going on?"

Quil shrugged and stayed focused on the road instead of looking over at him as he said simply, "Yup. That's pretty much the gist of it…."

Jacob stared at him, obviously annoyed with his vagueness.

"So, why'd she leave?"

Quil's hands clenched down on the steering wheel and he had to force himself to loosen his hold on it before it snapped. He forgot sometimes exactly how long he had known Jacob Black and how Jake had this way of seeing straight to the heart of the matter. He knew he couldn't get away with anymore vague responses, Jacob would just keep bugging him until he gave him real answers, so Quil took a huge breath to brace himself before he could bring himself to admit,

"She's in love with Bennett… She didn't take it great when he imprinted today…in fact, she left because of it…"

Jake seemed a little shocked, but he took it in stride. He nodded his head for a second before he clarified,

"But she's giving you hickeys?"

Quil automatically rubbed at his neck suddenly resenting the hickeys and the way they made the situation look.

"It's not like that…" he said quickly.

"So… she didn't mack on you while she was still in love with someone else? I'm not going to lie, Quil, this looks pretty bad." Jake said like he was pointing out the obvious.

"It really wasn't like that….it was just a one-time thing…." Quil tried to lamely explain.

"Aw, shit, Quil!" Jacob immediately responded, "I left you in charge man! This isn't good…"

"What the hell are you talking about, Jake?" Quil demanded.

Jake _had_ left him in charge and it wasn't a responsibility he had ever asked for or even wanted and yet it was the responsibility he lived up to every single day without fail.

"The way I see it, it's looking like you just took advantage of an emotionally confused sixteen-year-old girl- At least in Washington the age of consent is sixteen, so we won't have a legal issue but, seriously Quil, I should not have to be googling stuff like the age of consent for minors from my flight…" Jacob said like he had a headache at the thought.

"I didn't take advantage of her! Age of consent!? What the hell are you talking about!? I never touched her!" Quil instantly defended as he turned to give Jacob a hard stare, furious at the insinuation.

Jacob just turned to give him a skeptical look. "...Your neck says otherwise."

Quil quickly scoffed.

"I told you that was a one-time thing!"

"Okay, so you touched her just one time." Jacob said with a shrug, clearly not liking that thought much better.

"NO! I never touched her _at all_! She just sort of ….. snuck up on me yesterday… but we made out for like twenty minutes, that was it, end of story!" Quil rushed to defend, he couldn't believe that Jake actually thought that they had a problem here.

He raised his eyebrows and asked skeptically,

"Claire did that to your neck in twenty minutes?"

"YES!" Quil insisted.

Jake seemed like he was trying to digest the idea. "Damn Quil. I'll never be able to think of her as 'sweet little Claire' again…."

Quil laughed in response, he was just relieved that Jake finally believed him that he hadn't done anything with her.

"You have no idea!" Quil told him truthfully.

"What do you mean?" Jacob asked.

"It's likes she just has no idea the effect she has! She drives me completely _CRAZY_ but then acts like it's normal to walk around the house in just her underwear and I'm the one who's insane! She still thinks I don't notice her somehow like that's even possible… How could someone _not_ notice her!?"

It was a huge relief to finally express his pent-up frustration to someone and Quil blew out a huge breath he felt like he had been holding in for weeks now.

Jacob just gave him an evaluating stare before he said,

"Finally got there, did you?"

"What are you talking about?" Quil asked confused.

Jake just shrugged and then said,

"We've just all been wondering when you would get to this point since Claire was about thirteen…. Took you long enough…. but hey, you finally caught on."

"Who's 'all'? What point?" Quil asked even more confused.

"You know…. me, Sam, Seth, Leah, Paul, Embry,….basically all of us…." Jake answered casually.

Quil shook his head in disbelieving confusion, "So what? Are you saying that all of the original pack has just been getting together to wonder when I would notice Claire?"

"Well not _officially_ , we've just all mentioned it in passing over the last few years that we wondered when you would _FINALLY_ hit this point. We all knew Claire was young, but you wouldn't _know_ it just by looking at her and so we just expected you to hit it sooner than this. Brady hit it with Sofia before she was even sixteen and then we all figured you wouldn't be far behind but that was what? Three years ago now…?" he explained casually.

"What are you _talking_ about? What phase? What point!?" Quil asked more confused than ever and starting to feel frustrated that so much of the pack had been talking about it behind his back for so long.

Jacob looked slightly exasperated like it was obvious as he tried to explain, "Claire's your imprint, right?"

Quil just nodded, _obviously_ Claire was his imprint.

"So _that_ point, the point where she became your imprinted relationship."

"What?" Quil asked still as confused as ever.

"Look, believe me I get it. I imprinted on Renesmee the day she was freaking born, okay? So, for a while there was nothing else there, just her and me basically chilling through her childhood, right? And it was great, we had a ton of fun." Quil started nodding, remembering Claire's childhood the same way. "But then one day she just came down the stairs in a short dress that she had worn probably a million times before, but that day… whoa… man she just hit me like a ton of bricks… it was this crazy, intense, physical attraction that made me want to rip that dress off her right there." Jacob sounded blown away just remembering it. Quil nodded again understanding exactly the type of attraction Jacob was describing. "And after that it was always there, I could never not notice her again."

"So, it always starts that way? With that intensely crazy _need_ for her?" Quil asked him finally understanding the point Jake was referring to.

"Yup. Well for those of us that find our imprints when their still young… the others, it all hits them at the same time when they first imprint." Jacob replied.

Quil nodded remembering the sensations he had experienced in the minds of some of the other wolves.

"So, I'll always…?" Quil started and then trailed off suggestively.

"Want to rip her clothes off every time you see her? Yup. It never seems to get much less intense." Jake answered his unfinished question.

Quil had to shake his head, dazed at the idea of having to live the rest of his life with that fire in him burning so intensely for Claire that it was almost painful, that had been messing with his head so much for the last week.

Jacob laughed like he could see directly into Quil's thoughts.

"It does get easier to handle when you're actually getting some real action… this type of teasing shit…" Jake said as he poked Quil hard right in the neck, "just makes it worse."

Quil nodded thinking that made sense but not seeing any relief in sight.

"How long _has_ it even been since you had any _real_ action?" Jake continued undeterred.

"Since before Claire." Quil admitted with a shrug.

Jacob started laughed again, "No wonder you aren't handling it!"

"Did Renesmee ever do this to you?" Quil suddenly asked him sincerely while gesturing at his neck.

"Oh yeah! She teased me all the time that first six months we got together. Drove me absolutely _insane_. Why do you think we got married so fast? She made it clear she wasn't up for anything less than a real permanent commitment and I knew that there was no way I wanted anything else but her so…." Jacob answered lightly.

Quil nodded with understanding, that all made perfect sense to him.

"So, what happens next?" Quil asked him, hoping for guidance.

"You fall stupidly in love with her until you can't think straight anymore." Jake said simply while rolling his eyes like the whole thing seemed ridiculous.

Quil nodded before urging, "Then what?"

Jacob turned sharply to look at Quil, obviously surprised to realize that he was already at this stage.

"…Then you tell her." He said while obviously watching for Quil's reaction who just kept nodding and asked significantly,

"And then?"

"…Then she has to choose you." Jacob said simply as if it was the only answer he had to give him.

Quil blew out a huge breath in frustration, wishing that he was at a step where he could actually actively do something instead of leaving the ball entirely in Claire's court. They were just pulling up to the garage. Jacob just sympathetically clapped him on the back.

"Come on let's go get that drink you promised me."

Quil nodded and led him inside where Butch seemed as sad as Quil was that Claire wasn't with him.

"You got a dog?" Jacob asked sounding surprised.

"Yup. With Claire…. two days ago." Quil emphasized as he pulled the bottle of bourbon out of the bottom of his nightstand, for some reason Claire never looked back there.

Jake just whistled long and slow as if he was sympathetic to how badly Quil wanted to have some sort of real commitment from an undecided Claire.

After that, they sat drinking together in silence for about thirty minutes before Jacob seemed to take a bracing breath and then said,

"Alright. I need to meet the kid."

Quil finally felt the relief of Jacob taking his responsibilities back. He blew out a relaxed breath and answered,

"I'll have to track him down."

Jacob nodded his head at Quil as he pulled out his phone and pulled up Bennett's contact. It rang six times and then went to voicemail. Quil didn't trust himself to leave a voicemail that wasn't full of undue frustration toward this kid who hadn't chosen any of what had happened in the last ten days…

"Any idea where he'd be?" Jacob asked him when he hung up without leaving a message.

"Nope." Quil said, popping the P.

Bennett wasn't on patrol tonight and Quil had no idea what the kid did with his time if he wasn't being babysat. Quil knew that even before he was a wolf he spent all his time either playing sports he was now no longer allowed to play due to his new supernatural abilities, or with Claire.

"He imprinted on Claire's friend today, right? So, let's track her down." Jacob replied.

It took less than twenty minutes before they spotted Bennett's mom's car parked behind the football field of the high school. Quil pulled the Camaro up less than six inches behind it before he and Jake got out and walked around to the driver's side. Bennett and Macy were going at it so hot and heavy in the backseat of his mom's crossover that they didn't even see the two giant sized men coming for them.

Quil had zero hesitation when he abruptly yanked opened the back door and grabbed Bennett by the back of his neck from where he was on top of Macy, mostly horizontal, and yanked him roughly out of the car.

"What the hell!? Quil?" Bennett asked, clearly shocked.

Quil just threw him directly to Jacob as he grabbed his T-shirt off the floor of the backseat and then slammed the door on Macy who was hurriedly re-buttoning her blouse.

"Bennett, meet your real pack leader. Jake, meet the newest dumbass to join our ranks." Quil said as calmly as he could manage.

Jacob let go of Bennett, so he could shrug into his shirt as he calmly asked Quil,

"I thought you said Claire's friend that he imprinted on had a boyfriend?"

"She does as far as I know… Bennett?" Quil asked pointedly as Jacob joined him in staring him down.

Bennett just shrugged sheepishly and said, "We're soulmates, right?"

"Oh… they're soulmates, Quil! That explains it! …How long were you with your imprint before you ever kissed her like that?" Jacob asked Quil pointedly.

"Fourteen years, Jake." He answered readily.

Jacob whistled through his teeth and said, "I think that's a record… I know Sam didn't wait that long with Emily."

"Or Jared with Kim." Quil added helpfully, knowing exactly where Jacob was going with this.

"True! How long did Brady wait with Sofia?" Jake asked him while grabbing onto the back of Bennett's neck again.

"About a year. How long did you wait with Renesmee?" Quil replied.

"Almost five years." Jacob admitted with a casual shrug. "Now that's nothing on Quil waiting for Claire but it sure as hell beats one _freaking_ _DAY_!" Jake continued seeming to get louder and slower with each distinctive word.

"Too true!" Quil agreed readily.

"Now I think Paul was the fastest with Rachel. Man, that sucked Bennett, let me tell you because she's my sister and I got a front row ticket to Paul's dirty mind, but remind me Quil, how long did it take Paul to get to her like that?" Jake continued.

"Maybe a week and a half." Quil mused.

"A week and a half… That was the record to beat… and boy did you beat it! Quil, how long has it been since Bennett imprinted on Claire's friend back there?" Jacob's tone seemed to find a threatening edge underneath its continued friendliness.

"Well Jake, it looks all of about eight hours!" Quil answered seriously.

"Eight hours, Bennett! Wow. You must be a real badass! Look at you already hooking up with Claire's friend! What's her name again?"

"Macy! And quit calling her 'Claire's friend', it's not like that!" Bennett shot back, and Quil was impressed with his nerve if nothing else. If Quil could take him down in two seconds than Jake could do it in one…. Or maybe half of one…. not to mention the fact that Jacob was about a solid three inches taller than he and Bennett.

"Oh, I think it's exactly like that! Let me make something clear to you, Bennett. You think you have pull with the pack because you're a wolf and what? Because Leah is a sucker for a side kick?"

"That's exactly what I said." Quil chimed in casually, backing Jacob up from where he was leaning against the car a few feet from them.

"But _Claire_ has been a part of this family for the last fourteen years. In fact, that girl was still in diapers when you found her, wasn't she, Quil?" Jake asked without looking away from Bennett as he kept staring him down,

"Yes, she was." Quil responded confidently.

"So, when I see the newest member of _MY_ pack, disrespecting her, along with whatever her name is in the backseat there, not to mention what's-her-name's boyfriend. Well then… it's my job to teach that dumbass his place." Jacob told him just as Quil's phone started vibrating in his pocket.

Quil pulled it out to see Claire's beautiful face from her caller ID photo showing that she was calling him much sooner than he would have expected her to. He could hear Jacob saying, "Does she even know what you are yet!?" As he railed into Bennett which felt immensely satisfying to Quil. He didn't hear Bennett's response but then Jacob said furiously, "Oh, she knows she's your imprint!? Well what would we do without that!?" Just as Quil answered Claire's call,

"Hey, babe! Did you land already!? How was your flight?"

"Hi!" Her sweet voice responded sounding much happier than she had when she had left, as Quil continued walking away from Jacob still railing into Bennett behind him. "Yup. I'm just taking the tram to baggage claim, but I wanted to tell you that I landed, and the flight was good! Is that Jacob yelling in the background!?" She asked surprised.

"Yeah, it is! We're just getting some business done. So, tell me about your flight!" He responded quickly trying to distract her.

"There's not a lot to tell, it was pretty uneventful. The flight crew was really overly helpful because of my broken arm!" She offered up helpfully.

Quil just laughed knowing how important it was to her to feel independent and how much she didn't enjoy being fussed over publicly and being made the center of attention.

"I'm sorry, Claire, that sounds awful!" He teased her cheerfully.

She laughed in response and then asked, "So, what's Jake so upset about?"

"Just …..Collin…" he answered vaguely as he heard Bennett say indignantly to Jacob behind him, "Quil has two hickeys on his neck right now!"

"Mmhmm, is that right?" She said disbelievingly.

"Yup!" Quil said innocently.

"'Kay, well I want to talk to him." She replied without hesitating.

"What? Who?" He asked surprised.

"Jacob. I want to talk to him, you know before he rips 'Collin' apart for my benefit." She answered unfazed.

"Ooh… I don't think that's such a good-"

"Quil…." She said with a distinct warning tone in her voice letting him know how serious she was about her request.

"Alright." He instantly caved. "Whatever makes you happy."

"Thank you!" She replied immediately sounding bright again.

Jacob cut off from his angry rant at Bennett standing two feet in front of him as Quil whistled for his attention.

"It's Claire. She wants to talk to you!" He said as he tossed the phone at him and saw how nervous Bennett immediately looked about the fact that Claire wanted to speak with Jacob.

"Hey, Claire!" Jacob said in a surprisingly bright tone considering how deadly he had sounded when Quil interrupted him.

Quil couldn't hear Claire on the other end so she must have been purposefully speaking softly enough so that no one would overhear.

"Oh, great! Yeah, Nessie and the kids are great… Yeah, they miss you too. We need to fly you and Quil out to Paris this winter for a visit …." He laughed at something she said, "….. is that so?..." he asked doubtfully. "…well that's true… and what about Quil…. Well I can't argue with that….." laughter again "Alright, Claire, well it was great talking to you!... Okay, I will, I'm sure they send their love back." Jacob finally looked back at Quil as he tossed the phone back and said, "She wants to speak to you again."

Quil quickly walked away again before he turned and said into the phone, "Hey, what was that about?"

"Just setting the record straight." She answered simply.

"You didn't trust me to do that?".

"More like I don't trust you to be unbiased." She said good-naturedly.

"So, then what did you say to him?" He asked her curiously.

"Oh, just making sure we're on the same page." She responded. He laughed a moment later when he realized she was quoting him from the day before when she had asked what her dad had said to him.

"Touché." He replied.

"Isn't it!?" She laughed and then said, "Hey, I gotta go though, my bags just came up."

"Alright, sweetheart. Call me before you go to sleep?" He asked her easily even as he bit down on the inside of his cheek and waited for her reply.

"Promise." She answered sweetly without hesitating, "Oh, gotta go, there's my aunt! 'Kay love you!"

"I love you too." He responded though probably with a lot more meaning. He was completely surprised that she had chosen to say it at all after their goodbye at the airport. "Bye, hon." He said at the same time she said, "Bye!" And hung up.

Quil got back to Bennett and Jacob just as Jacob was saying,

"Quil's going to take Macy home now. You get to be _my_ sidekicktonight while I get to go sort Collin out next."

" _I_ should at least take Macy home!" Bennett immediately resisted.

But Jacob just laughed as Quil scoffed and said, "Bennett." At the same time he clapped a hand down on his shoulder. "I had to trust you with _my_ imprint for _four solid months_ … It's time for me to return the favor! Besides, you need a chance to get to know Jacob better!"

Bennett seemed like he would be fine to not know Jacob any better but didn't have any choice in the matter as Quil let him go and opened the door to the backseat where Macy was still hiding out.

"Hey, Macy. I'm Quil, I'm going to take you home now, so why don't you grab your stuff and hop in my car." Quil said in a friendly tone not wanting to freak her out.

She just looked at him in what seemed confusion for a second before she said, "Wait, aren't you Claire's uncle?"

"What did she just say!?" Jacob asked in complete disbelief before he started laughing hysterically, "Is that what people think!? That Claire's your niece!? No wonder she doesn't want people to know about your hickeys! Talk about awkward questions!"

" _Claire_ gave you those hickeys!?" Macy immediately asked sounding both disbelieving and scandalized.

"Thanks a lot, Jake!" Quil immediately responded annoyed.

"Sorry!" Jake said as he kept laughing.

"Come on, Macy, I'll take you home." Quil said already counting down until he could get home and wait for Claire to call again.

He said goodbye to Jake by kissing him serenely on the cheek the way they only ever did when they wanted to freak out a new wolf into thinking they were now a part of the Quileute wolf mafia or something.

Jacob responded with his usual perfect timing when he said seriously, "Welcome to the Family, Macy. We always take care of our own." before he clapped Bennett hard on the back.

The entire drive home Macy hounded Quil with questions. This wouldn't have been surprising since she was now Bennett's imprint and entitled to know everything, except that Bennett hadn't told her anything about being a wolf yet and all of her questions were about him, Claire, and their relationship.

"So, you _aren't_ Claire's uncle?" She accused him.

" _Definitely_ not." He responded immediately, wanting to make that as clear as possible.

"Then why would she say that you are?" She instantly challenged him.

"Because our relationship is complicated and it's not something most people can understand." He quickly explained trying in vain to answer her questions as quickly as she was asking them.

"So, you're in a relationship?" She fired at him obviously looking to find the dirt.

"Are you and Bennett in a relationship?" He fired right back at her.

"How old are you?" She shot next without answering his question.

"Twenty-four." He answered, immediately trying to make himself as close to Claire's age as he could believably get away with.

"And Claire kept her relationship with you a secret? That's why she lied about you being her uncle?" She instantly asked so she must have believed his lie about his age.

It was exhausting. She kept up like that until he literally shoved her (gently) out the door she had already opened while continuing to barrage him with personal questions that were honestly none of her business. By the time he left her on the sidewalk in front of her house and drove quickly away he had a much better understanding of why Claire couldn't stay here to be around Macy and Bennett.

He just wanted to go home and wait for Claire's call saying she was going to sleep so that he could too. He was relieved when she called right as he was walking through the door and he didn't have to wait at all to hear her voice as he threw himself down on his bed exhausted. Butch immediately curled up next to him and laid his head on Quil's stomach where Quil pet him lazily as he got to hear the most beautiful sound of the voice of the woman he was so in love with, speaking softly to him for over an hour about nothing in particular before she quietly said 'love you!' again and said goodnight. Quil hung up the phone and smiled to himself as he fell asleep on top of his bed fully clothed with Butch on top of him.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

 **Claire:**

"Hey! New girl! Can you give me a hand?"

Claire looked up from where she had been absentmindedly leaning against the fence watching her aunt work. Her Aunt Tami owned a ranch in Tennessee that was a camp of sorts. Tami owned six therapy horses, or at least that's what they called them. Claire didn't think that any of the horses actually had any special training, they were each just specifically picked for how gentle they were.

Tami had made her ranch a special place where people who struggled (for whatever reason) came for some undetermined amounts of time to work with the horses. Sometimes it was autistic children (or even adults) who seemed to only be able to connect with a horse, or sometimes it was recovering addicts trying to escape the destructive habits that their daily life made too easy to revert back to. It was no wonder Claire's dad had immediately thought to send her there when she had called him at work while crying in a bathroom stall.

She was supposed to have been in 5th period after lunch but she couldn't make herself go after she had just witnessed Bennett imprinting on Macy at lunch. She had never been in so much pain in her life, even when she had broken her arm, _even_ when she had had her arm re-broken. None of that physical pain compared to the agony her heart was in as she sat on the floor with her back against the wall of the last stall of the least visited bathroom in school.

At first as she sat through their lunch hour she was in complete shock. She knew exactly what had happened the second she had seen the look on Bennett's face. At least she knew it logically, but her heart still hadn't seemed to catch up. She had sat down at the table with her usual group of friends including Macy and Caleb in a complete daze as Bennett sat directly across from her so that he could sit right next to Macy who he was still staring at. Claire didn't want to see it. Any of it. And yet she couldn't force herself to look away. She didn't even hear when Katie said hi to her sitting right next to her.

"So, did you guys like get back together or something?" Macy asked suspiciously.

Claire instantly started shaking her head, not in answer to the question, but in complete denial of what was happening right in front of her eyes.

"NO! We're not together!" Bennett instantly said in a tone that was way too definite for Claire's feelings. "We're just friends, right Claire?"

She gave him a microsecond of a scathing look. She couldn't believe he was dragging her into this, but then she remembered that everyone was watching her and that everyone already thought that he had dumped her and that the look she was giving him now was not going to help deny that. She swallowed quickly and coughed to clear her throat before she said,

"Yeah, definitely-"

She had meant to say it brightly but even her voice sounded numb… at least she didn't sound angry or bitter…. Or worse, broken like the way she felt.

She didn't eat at all, she didn't even bother to get food. She just sat there and tried to force herself to stop shaking (it was especially noticeable as her cast quivered) as she did everything in her power to not watch Bennett watching Macy, and she completely failed.

It was almost bizarre to watch Macy sit there with Caleb's arm around her while she responded to every single one of Bennett's flirty attempts to get her attention. Claire had honestly never really seen Caleb care about anything or anyone, she actually thought he was a little self-centered, but he was definitely noticing Bennett with Macy. Everyone at the table was. Caleb made a few attempts to single out Macy's attention before he switched tactics and asked Bennett a basketball question trying to force his attention on himself instead of his girlfriend. Bennett just blew him off and immediately went back to Macy. Caleb was so annoyed that fifteen minutes before lunch even ended he announced to the group as a whole, "Alright, well I'll be in Chemistry, not that anyone cares." and left without Macy even seeming to notice.

Claire wished Caleb had taken her with him, or that she had the strength to follow his lead and walk out with her pride intact but instead she sat frozen watching the horror play out in front of her. There was a moment when the bell rang, and everyone was standing and packing up to head to class when Claire saw Bennett reach out and softly grab Macy's arm before she could leave,

"You wanna get out of here?" He leaned in to quietly asked her.

She looked up at him completely surprised before she nodded her head eagerly, grabbed her cross-body bag and headed for the doors with his hand gently guiding her on the small of her back. Claire saw Macy look back quickly to watch her staring after them before she looked back up at Bennett and whispered something in his ear.

Bennett didn't even bother to look back.

That was the moment where the shock ended, and the searing pain took its place. Claire walked as fast as she could without actually running and causing a scene, to the bathroom on the far end of the school where she barely managed to lock herself in a stall before she collapsed on the ground against the wall. She was shaking violently and hyperventilating. She was trying to focus on her breathing before she had another panic attack, but she couldn't seem to get past Bennett's voice echoing in her head from only ten days ago. He was whispering as he said to her,

" _I will_ ALWAYS _love you, Claire Young, there will_ never _be anyone else, only you."_

"LIAR!"She yelled out without thinking, causing the only other girl in the room to immediately turn off the sink she was washing her hands in and leave as quickly as she could.

Claire didn't know what to do anymore. She had let things progress with Quil to a point where it was clear that his feelings for her were deeper than he had originally led her to believe. Which would have been fine; in fact, she would have been stoked that Quil was more invested in feelings for her than he ever had been before, that he was finally taking her seriously… If only it weren't for the fact that she couldn't seem to claw around the part of her heart she had given to Bennett, to give back to Quil, who was the one who should have always had it to begin with.

She didn't want to think about Bennett. She didn't want to care about him. She wanted to be the person that left a relationship gracefully and was able to move on to something bigger and better. She wanted to be happy for Bennett that he had that and that he wasn't in pain over her anymore, but she just felt stuck in her own hurt. She was suddenly drowning in her love for him. It was just like that moment a week ago when she had run into him in the hall outside his coach's office and his love for her was what was causing him so much pain, Claire suddenly knew exactly how he must have been feeling.

What was wrong with her!? Bennett was now happily abandoning his love for her to run off into the sunset with his imprint, so why couldn't she do the same thing with Quil!? She had been banging her head softly against the tile of the wall she was sitting against but forced herself to stop before she concussed herself again.

She suddenly pulled her phone out and pulled up the contact for her dad. He had known _exactly_ how to handle her breakup the day before and he would know exactly how to handle it today.

As soon as he picked up the phone that called directly to his office with a, "This is Professor Young" Claire started balling. "Claire!?" He asked in obvious concern.

It had taken her ten minutes to sob out what had happened and by ten minutes later he had bought her a plane ticket. She had some initial hesitations about leaving, mainly Quil, but she couldn't see how staying there with him while she was in love with someone else would ever be the right thing to do. The thought of leaving was like a life preserver that she held onto with all her strength. Quil was already planning on picking Jacob up from the airport, he could drop her off and that would give her a chance to explain things to him and to say goodbye.

She didn't leave the bathroom until fifth period ended and then hurried to sixth period history with the knowledge that she only had to make it through one hour until she could escape and leave this place behind her. Bennett and Macy didn't even show up for class which was a blessing because Claire wasn't forced to watch them interact, except that she knew that where ever they were, it was together.

But that had all been three days ago and she had gotten to Tennessee to find that her father _had_ known exactly what he was doing in sending her here. She had just viewed the ranch as simply a place away from her pain, but it was so much more than that. It was a place that offered true perspective. She was now a witness to other people's real-world problems that made her problems seem down right laughable. She had known that her aunt would be generously taking her on as a hand for the next few weeks but wasn't sure how much help she would actually be with only one not-broken arm, but Tami had still found plenty for Claire to do and she had been kept constantly busy from the moment she had arrived, either cleaning out guest cabins after they left or helping prep food in the kitchen or leading a horse around slowly while a special needs child rode along with one person on each side to catch her if she fell.

There was something about the laid-back atmosphere of the ranch, or maybe it was the horses themselves that it stemmed from, but she somehow felt like as busy as she was staying, she wasn't hiding from or avoiding her pain. She was just feeling it and processing it in a way that was much less painful. She stayed busy constantly, but it was the type of busy that only kept her hands (or in this case, hand) working and her mind free, and yet it seemed like every time she thought of Bennett and Macy together it hurt just a little less than the time before had. She was also surprised how most of her thoughts actually seemed to stem back around to Quil and the way he had kissed her at the airport.

She had thrown everything she had into it, completely committed to it. She had never kissed him that way before, but she did then, and he had grabbed her like he would never her let her go and then he had kissed her in a way she had never been before. He kissed her with a complete confidence in his love for her. She had never seen someone so willing to make themselves so vulnerable before, and yet he wasn't afraid at all. He just kissed her exactly like he knew what he was doing, ( _probably because he did_ , she reasoned with herself) and it had been far and away the best kiss of her life. It left her breathless and mind racing.

For the last three days she kept thinking of that kiss and smiling, and then hearing him say, _"I love you, Claire. I'm_ in _love with you!"_ and then would smile even bigger at the thought. She had no idea that that was how he felt until he had laid it all out on the line for her. She had known that he was obviously attracted to her and that his feelings had recently been growing deeper but actually _loving_ her wasn't something she had expecting from him.

At first, she was shocked and a little horrified to think of him being in love with her _now_ at a time when she couldn't reciprocate his feelings, but somehow the more she thought of it, the happier it made her.

He was in love with her and he wanted to try. He wanted to be together. It was basically everything that Claire had ever wanted. They only thing she worried about was if he really took her seriously enough to want to be in a real relationship.

She had called him every night before she went to bed and they would usually end up just talking late into the night. It was such a joy for her to hear how lighthearted he sounded now that the responsibility of being in charge was back on Jacob. She had forgotten that he used to sound that way before he had defaulted into the Alpha position and that somewhere along the line it weighed him down so much he stopped sounding like that.

He had this casual way of making her feel his love for her without seeming to realize he was doing it. It was like that love was such a big part of him it was only natural for it to present itself in little ways he didn't even seem aware of, but it always made Claire's heart pound and put a smile on her face. Quil had always been an affectionate person, and never held love back from her, but now she felt so much more the depth of it in just the casual way he would talk to her. Now instead of calling her 'Honey' or 'Sweetheart' he would say casual things like,

"Claire, baby, make sure you aren't straining your arm before it has a chance to heal."

Or,

"Babe, why do I have sixteen episodes of _Say Yes, to the Dress_ recorded when we both know you're never going to watch them!?"

And every time he said something like that she would get chills down her spine while she felt like he was claiming her… but as more than just his imprint. It felt like he was claiming her as his love, his partner he wanted to spend life with, the person he trusted his heart to. And she couldn't help but smile and then feel grateful that he couldn't actually see the ridiculous way she was responding to him. She knew he thought she was getting ready for bed or lying down when they talked, but really she crawled deep into the dark corner of the closet in her room of her aunts ranch house so that she could curl up on the floor with her broken arm wrapped around her knees hugging herself as she smiled stupidly and blushed her feelings while doing her best to pull of casual while talking to him.

She had just been watching her aunt instruct one of the patrons, a middle-aged man with a recurring drug problem, on how to handle the horse he was riding in the paddock when she had heard someone asking her for help. She looked up to see one of the other ranch hands that her aunt employed leading a horse into the barn behind her. He was around her age and most of the hires were young high school kids like Claire who came and helped out after school or on weekends. Claire had noticed him there during the day when most kids would be at school, so she didn't know if he was older and already graduated or had extenuating circumstances like hers that had him there and not in school.

She quickly followed him to the barn as she said, "I don't know how much help I'll be, I only have the one arm to work with."

"That's alright," he said making her gasp when he was right behind her grabbing something off the wall instead of by the horse she had been walking to. "I just need you to hold his lead and keep him calm. He's got something stuck in his shoe and I need to dig it out."

He looked directly at her when he talked, and she noticed that he had striking blue eyes, almost icy.

"Okay, I'll do my best!" She said simply as she followed him to the horse.

He laughed at her response as he handed her the lead and said, "It's really not that hard. Just stay calm and he will too."

She nodded her head as she took the lead he was offering and then looked back up at him when he didn't let it go. He was staring down at her like he was trying to figure her out with his piercing blue eyes.

"I'm Luke, by the way. Thanks for the help." He let go of the lead and then held his right hand out to shake hers.

"Here." She said quickly as she fed the lead into her casted right hand where she could lightly hold it and grabbed his offered hand in her left where she held onto it and gave it a squeeze instead of a shake.

"Claire." She offered, introducing herself before she dropped his hand and reached up to stroke the neck of the horse she was supposed to be keeping calm.

He chuckled good-naturedly at her makeshift greeting and then went to the side of the horse and lifted one of his front legs to start digging out the mulch and debris stuck between his hoof and shoe.

"So, what's your story, Claire?" he suddenly surprised her by asking. He had seemed so focused and she was soothingly rubbing at the horse that really didn't seem like he cared one way or the other if he was soothed or if his foot was carved at. She hadn't expected Luke to want to have a conversation, maybe it was his striking eyes but something about him gave him this intensity that she didn't associate with small talk.

"Oh, um… I'm Tami's niece." She explained.

"No, not how do you know her. What's your story? How did you come to be on the island of misfit toys?" he responded while continuing to work instead of looking at her.

"What do you mean?" she asked confused.

"We all come here because we don't fit in with the real world, so we end up here with guys like Gus here-" he said as he slapped the horses side above where he was kneeling with Gus's foot in his hand and a pocket knife in the other. "..,that accept us as is."

"Are you Gus?" she cooed in a loving voice to the horse that was nuzzling into her chest. She realized this was her aunts favorite horse because she had heard her mention him and talk about what a sweet animal he was. She laughed when he huffed in her chest in response and swished his tail. She realized a second late that Luke was waiting for her to respond while she interacted with the horse above him and she quickly asked casually,

"Why don't you fit in with the rest of the world?"

"Me?" he asked her.

She shrugged, "Yeah… you…. Us… everyone that ends up here."

He gave her a look like he was impressed with her somehow though she had no idea why he would be.

"Me, I had a drug problem a few years back. My parents sent me here after rehab didn't work. This did. I ended up back here to stay clean and then somehow never left." He told her casually.

She was a little shocked by his story but impressed with the place he must be in emotionally that he could speak about his addictions so casually to a stranger.

"So, what's your story?" he asked her again.

"Oh, I don't have one." She answered automatically. He immediately looked up at her skeptically. "…It's just stupid. Embarrassing really, when I think about it." She admitted feeling guilty that she wasn't willing to share her own journey when he had just shared so much personal and potentially painful information.

"Is it worse than mine?" he reasoned with her.

"No! It doesn't compare at all. In fact, by comparison it's actually pathetic." She assured him honestly.

He stopped to look up at her like he was sizing her up.

"So, it's a secret?" he asked.

She suddenly realized that she didn't have any right to be embarrassed in a place like this where everyone here had swallowed their pride to ask for the help they needed in some form.

She shrugged her shoulders quickly before finally saying,

"It's just… my boyfriend dumped me to be with my friend …. _AND_ …. now it seems so pathetic that I would let that be the thing that would send me thousands of miles away." She finished quickly in one breath. She knew that that didn't really explain her situation at all but that was the best she could do since talking about imprinting was out.

He looked up at her for a second before he asked, "Your boyfriend dumped you?"

She couldn't quite tell if he was judging her or just looking for more information.

"Yeah." She admitted while refusing to meet his intense eyes and looked at Gus instead.

"For another girl?" he asked. She could practically feel how pathetic she must seem to him.

"Well…" she said starting to feel guilty for the unfair way she was portraying Bennett. "… we had to breakup after… we were in an accident together." She lifted her broken arm slightly as emphasis. "…but then his first day back at school he was already with her, and that was the day I left."

He nodded his head as he stood back up and patted Gus on his side.

"That sucks, Claire." He said sympathetically like he didn't think she was a total loser for letting something as minor as a high school breakup drive her away from her home and love ones. To her eternal embarrassment she started to tear up as he looked at her with understanding in his sharp eyes.

"Your pain might stem from less drastic sources but it's still pain." He told her soothingly. "You have just as much right to be here as anyone else, Claire. More actually since your aunt owns the place!" he finished on a lighter tone. She chuckled as she sniffed and wiped at her eyes before handing back Gus's lead.

"Thanks, Luke." She said sincerely surprised by his kindness since she had just met him and initially judged him as cold.

He was about to say something when her phone started ringing. He looked at her curiously as she blushed embarrassed at him. She was just wearing a soft V-neck t-shirt with a flowy skirt that came mid-thigh and was easy to move around in and her converses that she was proud to have managed to put on and tie by herself. She quickly reached down the front of her shirt and pulled her phone out of her bra where it was ringing loudly and making her boobs shake as it vibrated. Luke started laughing at her as she looked down to see Leah's contact lighting up her phone.

"Oh, crap… I better take this. Will you tell Tami where I went?" she asked Luke as she backed away.

"Sure." He said as he started to lead Gus away. "But you owe me."

She wasn't listening as she hurried to answer the phone before it sent Leah to voicemail and she thought that Claire was still avoiding her.

"Hello?" she said after taking a bracing breath.

"Why did Quil just tell me that after he had _promised_ you would be willing to make things right at the bonfire tomorrow night, you have since gone out of town for an undetermined amount of time!?" Leah's voice instantly grated at her.

Claire slapped at her forehead with her left hand as she pinned the phone between her right shoulder and head. _Crap! The Bonfire!_ She had completely forgotten about the bonfire that she had promised Quil she would go to! It had been so important to him! She had felt exactly how much he had wanted her to come with him and she was kicking herself for not remembering it. He hadn't even mentioned it and she was sure it was because he didn't want to make her feel guilty, which of course she did. She just internally vowed to make it up to him somehow, she had a lifetime to try.

"Hi, Leah. How are you?" she simply responded.

"Are you still so determined to avoid me, Claire, that you'd fly to Hickville and disappoint Quil just to stay away from me?" she whined at her.

"You know, believe it or not, _you_ didn't actually factor into this decision." Claire informed her.

"Yeah, sure." Leah said, and Claire could hear her eyes rolling.

"Really, Leah. It wasn't about what happened between you and Quil. I'm over it, honestly." Claire said sincerely. It had been remarkably easier to forgive Leah now that Claire was sure of Quil's love for _her_ , that and after what had happened with Claire and Quil's unplanned make-out session where Claire had practically bit off Quil's neck…. Well Claire was a lot more understanding that things involving physical attraction just sometimes happened unintentionally.

"That's another thing! How can you be _so_ willing to forgive Quil and you won't even look at me!?" Leah said clearly frustrated.

"Are you serious?" Claire asked in disbelieve.

"If it was a mistake for him and you can forgive him then why it can't be a mistake for me and forgive _me_!?" Leah tried to reason.

"Okay, well first of all, you aren't my soulmate. Second, Quil, felt horrible about it-" Claire started

" _I_ feel horrible!" Leah cut in angrily.

"You didn't even apologize!" Claire immediately threw down ready to finally have it out.

"You wouldn't give me a chance to!" Leah came back at her with.

"Well…. I'm giving you one now….." Claire allowed reasonably.

She could hear Leah taking an angry breath like she was trying to calm herself down before she said resentfully,

"I'm sorry, Claire."

"That's it!? That's all you've got, Leah? You know it's not like you've got friends to spare! If you haven't noticed, you aren't the easiest person to live with, but I've stuck with you for… my whole life, basically! And all you've got is _'I'm sorry, Claire'_!?" Claire said frustrated, mimicking the resentful way Leah had said it.

"What do you want me to say!? That I've been incredibly lonely for years and that Quil got super ripped and hot and was basically wearing no clothes and he had-" Claire chimed in to beg, "Don't say the thing about the beard." just as Leah said, "A beard that was sexy as hell and when he kissed me I reacted!?"

"No, Leah! I don't want to hear about how sexy Quil is! You don't think I know!? _I KNOW_ how hot he is, okay!? I'm sixteen, not blind!" Claire huffed angrily.

"Oh, we all know how much you know." Leah said sarcastically.

"What does that mean?" Claire asked confused.

"Just that if you were trying to get back at Macy and Bennett and mark your territory all at once, you definitely succeeded." Leah told her while sounding a little gleeful about it.

"What are you talking about?" Claire asked still confused.

"I mean, I think Macy was actually _trying_ to draw blood and out-do your hickeys by the look of Bennett's neck. He's actually starting to look like an abused housewife." Leah explained while Claire's stomach dropped at the mention of Macy and Bennett.

She gasped as the truth hit her and then immediately seemed so obvious.

"You saw his hickeys!" She gasped.

"Um everyone and their mother saw those hickeys, Claire. What did you do, bite down?" Leah said less than helpfully.

"Who's everyone?" Claire asked closing her eyes and placing her palm to her forehead.

"Um, Jacob, Bennett and Macy, I guess, but then the whole pack saw it in Jacob's mind because he thought it was so hilarious that Macy thought Quil was your uncle when she found out you gave them to him." Leah explained.

Claire groaned loudly.

"Great!" she said in discouraged frustration.

"What's the big deal? So you guys are together now… everyone's been waiting years for you two to get together." Leah reasoned.

"Because, we aren't together! Or… at least we weren't when it happened and now I have zero right to be mad at Bennett and Macy for already hooking up when they know I hooked up with Quil first!" Claire gushed out agitatedly.

"You hooked up with Quil!? He told everyone it was just a make-out sesh." Leah immediately asked excitedly.

"NO! Of course not! Nothing happened! It _was_ just a make-out sesh, and an unplanned one at that!" Claire said.

Leah seemed like she was digesting that idea before she said,

"I get that. So, you're still not over Bennett then?"

It was the first time since Claire had picked up the phone that Leah had said something and been helpful instead of on the spectrum of totally annoying.

"I wish I was, Leah. I really do. I love Quil. And I want to be with him, but I feel so stuck to Bennett! How did you do it? How did you get over Sam when he imprinted on Emily?" Claire asked desperately and suddenly realized how much she had missed getting advice from Leah.

"I don't think I'm the best person to ask, Claire. I mean it took me years to get over Sam and even then, it wasn't like I moved on happily." Leah said and then sighed sadly.

"Did you ever get to a point where you could be happy for him?" Claire asked her sincerely.

"I mean eventually …. that was only because I honestly loved Emily too though. But man, Macy seems like a real piece of work. No one in the pack will say anything because we don't want Bennett to pick up on it, but no one likes her so far…. What's he supposed to do?… No one wants to burst his bubble to inform him that he had the platinum prize ripped from his hands but it's cool because he won bronze instead…." Leah told her.

"Wait… Are you comparing _me_ to platinum…?" Claire said while secretly feeling a little pleased that at least the wolf pack thought that Bennett would have been better off with her.

"Well, you're worth at least two of her, Claire. But she's coming to the bonfire tomorrow as her first official wolf event and who knows maybe she'll turn out to be awesome…. I mean your friends with her right?" Leah asked.

"Uhhhh…" Claire said noncommittally. _More like frienimies._ Claire thought to herself before saying. "I want to say yes because we were close last year, but she was the one that spread the rumor that Bennett dumped me, and that I'm begging him to take me back, _so_ …."

Claire wanted to be gracious, but now that she had started unloading on Leah it felt like the floodgates had opened and she couldn't seem to reign it back in.

"Ugh… eww… Alright, let's don't talk about Macy anymore…. Let's talk about what's going on with you and Quil… you said you weren't together when you made out, but does that mean you're together now?" Leah asked excitedly.

"I can't talk to you about Quil." Claire answered automatically.

"Why not? Just because we're in the same pack doesn't mean he's automatically going to hear everything we talk about." Leah assured her.

"No. Because you've seen him naked… in multiple ways." Claire said unsympathetically.

"Ugh, are you still on that? I thought we had moved past this already, not to mention the fact that almost happening and _actually_ happening are two completely different things!" Leah said sounding annoying again.

"Yes, I'm still on it! You haven't even really apologized, Leah! He's my SOULMATE, and you just jumped in bed with him no questions asked! I can understand why _he_ did it. I shoved him away to be with someone else and he had every right do the same to me, in every sense. But you, Leah! I thought you were my friend! My best friend even. Someone I could honestly tell my feelings and secrets to and you… betrayed me… Who does that!? You were like a sister to me and…. And… and…." She was crying now thinking about it. "Gosh, Leah…. Now I will always have that image of you with him in my mind! Do you know what that feels like!?"

"Yes, I do actually. And it sucks…. I'm sorry. You're right. I wasn't thinking about you at all. I was actually thinking about how long it had been since I had been touched by anyone in anyway and jumped at the first even slightest chance to be not lonely I could find." Leah explained while actually sounding sorry and regretful for the first time.

Claire blew out a huge frustrated breath and decided that Leah wasn't perfect and that she needed to forgive her and get past what she had walked in on that day at Quil's apartment even _if_ Leah didn't always make it easy.

"Just… just promise me it will never happen again."

"…You don't trust Quil?" Leah asked her confused.

"No! Of course I trust Quil! It's not about him. It's about you. It was an opportunity thing and I just need to know that if the opportunity ever presented itself again you would think about me and our friendship and not just jump at the chance." Claire explained.

Leah was silent for long enough to start to make Claire nervous before she said,

"I get that… I promise, Claire, it'll never happen again." To Claire's surprise she heard Leah start to cry. "Honestly, the worst part was knowing how much he regretted it. Claire, I truly hope you never have to know the feeling of being used as a distraction and then left unwanted….. and don't take this as I'm in love with Quil or something because I'm _NOT_ , but I was so desperate to feel wanted that I was willing to jump in bed with a man that was in love with my friend, and that's something I'll never be able to forgive myself for. I can't even look in the mirror, Claire."

Claire just sat on the phone for a second crying along with Leah. She might have been hurt and mad at her for a moment in time, but Leah was basically a sister of sorts to her and her pain was also Claire's pain. That's just the way it is when you love someone.

"I'm sorry he did that to you." Claire finally said.

She thought that Leah might have been nodding as she tried to pull herself together.

"It's okay. I know it wasn't his fault." Leah said thickly.

Claire scoffed and said, "I may have forgiven him but that doesn't mean he doesn't have _any_ blame."

Leah laughed a little and said, "I think we might have just both taken advantage of each other's pain and the truth is that everyone got hurt by it….. I'm _truly_ sorry, Claire."

It was one of the sincerest things Claire had ever heard Leah say.

"It's alright. I'm sorry too." Claire said now more than willing to forgive Leah and put this behind them.

"What are you sorry for?" Leah asked surprised.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't willing to forgive you before. And I'm sorry for not being willing to see your side….. your pain in all of it…. I was pretty self-centered about how _I_ was hurt by it without ever being willing to see how it had hurt you too." Claire said honestly seeing how wrong she had been to shut Leah out for so long, Quil had been right that day he suggested she let Leah make it right.

"Well it wasn't your choices that led to what happened…" Leah justified.

"Yes. It was. Probably even more than you're choices. If I hadn't pushed Quil away for so long, neither of you would have been in that situation to begin with." Claire explained.

"Ehhh." Leah hemmed like she was debating it with herself. "Alright, thanks, Claire. I appreciate that… So… Friends again?"

"Definitely!" Claire said emphatically.

"Good! So, can we talk about you and Quil now!?" Leah asked.

Claire blew out a breath before she answered,

"I would actually, but I need to go. I'm supposed to be working and still need to call him really quick before I get back to work…"

The truth was her aunt wasn't paying her hourly, just a salaried rate and there was nothing that Claire was specifically supposed to be doing right now. She could even see Tami in the paddock working with the same patron as before. But Claire knew that Leah wasn't the person she wanted to talk to about where she stood with Quil.

"Alright, alright….. but you'll tell me later?" Leah pestered.

"Yes, Leah. I promise." Claire placated her. "But hey, Leah, just hang in there. If there is one thing this place has taught me, it's that things will improve, even if you can't see it at the time."

"I know… I think things already might be starting to improve…." Leah said sounding hopeful.

"Really!?" Claire asked intrigued. "Is there a new man in your life?" she asked suggestively.

"Maybe… We'll see…." Leah answered a little vaguely.

"Well I need to hear more about this!" Claire instantly pressured her.

"As soon as I hear about you and Quil!" Leah told her.

Claire laughed, "Fair enough!"

After that she said goodbye to Leah quickly and then sat down to lean in the shade of a tree where she could watch the progress happening in the paddock.

She looked down at her phone to see her home screen photo of herself in her homecoming dress with a shirtless Quil, it made her smile and gave her strength before she pulled up his contact and hit call. She knew he had run a late patrol with Jacob the night before, but it was almost 1:30 in Tennessee which would make it almost 11:30 back home and he should be up by now.

He answered on the forth ring.

"Hey, Babe. I wasn't expecting you to call this morning."

As usual his happy voice sent chills down her spine and put a smile on her face before she replied,

"I'm sorry. Is this a bad time? I can call back later."

"Don't be sorry! I always want to hear your voice. I just started working but I can talk to you at the same time. What's up…. You sound a little…. I dunno… keyed up or something."

"Yeah, I just got off the phone with Leah." She explained.

"Oh!" he said like it was some dark thing. "How did that go?"

"Good actually. She's clearly really sorry and I think we're in a good place now." She told him truthfully.

"Oh… well good then, right?" he asked her.

"Yeah, definitely." She said a little sadly.

"Then what's bothering you?" he asked her concerned.

She sighed and then said, "I don't know… I just feel badly that I never took any responsibility for what happened between you two."

He was silent for a second and then said, "Because you don't have any responsibility for what happened between us."

"Quil…." She argued not liking the way he always protected her, even from herself. "If I hadn't shoved you away like that last fall, you wouldn't have done it and we both know that."

"Claire, you have got to stop trying to take responsibility for my actions! I'm thirty-one! I think it's about time I own up to my own choices."

"Well that's not what…" she started

"If you want to play that game then it's all _my_ fault. The whole thing. It's my fault that you fell in love with Bennett. It's my fault you couldn't be with him once he turned. It's my fault he broke your heart when he imprinted. It's all my fault." He reasoned.

"What are you talking about!?" she asked in complete disbelieve.

"If I hadn't been holding on to you so tightly that you felt like you couldn't breath then you wouldn't have asked for space…" he told her.

"What!? Quil, that's ridiculous! _I_ chose to be with Bennett. You didn't force me into anything." She argued immediately.

"Exactly. Those were your choices, Claire, and I let you own them. Just like it was my choice that night to get drunk and let things get out of hand with Leah. So, don't try to take that away from me." He told her confidently.

She had to admit that his logic was solid. They had all made mistakes, but the important thing was to just forgive and move on.

"Alright…" she said unwillingly. "I see your point." She conceded.

"Good. So, then we're all good about it?" he asked her honestly.

"Yes." She said confidently knowing that he would be relieved to finally put it behind them.

"Good…. But there is something else I need to apologize to you about." He told her, and she instantly got nervous at the change to a serious tone in his voice.

"What is it?" she asked confused.

He took a breath and then said, "I'm sorry for what happened at the airport... I shouldn't have done that. It was really unfair and selfish and I'm sorry."

She felt like he had just punch her in the gut. He was sorry? He shouldn't have done it? Did he not mean it when he had said he loved her?

"Claire?" he asked after a moment when she hadn't said anything.

"I'm still here." She replied a little lifelessly.

"Are you okay?" he asked her confused.

"Not really." She blurted out as she started to tear up.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"You're _sorry_?" she asked sincerely while trying not to breakdown.

"Yes! I shouldn't have tried to manipulate you to get you to stay. I should have known that you needed to do what was best for you and supported you." He said honestly.

He had tried to manipulate her? So, he had only told her he loved her to try to say what she wanted to hear to get her to stay. She felt like she was about to have a panic attack.

"I get if you're mad, but-" he started to say but she cut across him once she found her voice.

"Your sorry you said it? You didn't mean what you said about being in love with me and wanting to be with me? You just said it to get me to stay?" she asked breathlessly. She needed to hear him say it to truly believe it even as she felt her heart breaking for the second time in a week.

"What!? Of course, not!" he said emphatically. "Of course, I want to be with you! Are you kidding? I'm crazy in love with you, Claire! Like can't-remember-how-to-tie-my-shoes-anymore-because-you're-all-I-think-about in love with you, like count-every-second-since-the-last-time-I-heard-your-voice in love with you!"

Claire put her hand over her heart as she took in a relieving breath and tried to slow her heart rate. She was still tearing up a bit from the on slot of sudden emotion.

"Really!?" She asked in disbelief as she continued to tear up, this time from shocked, happy emotions instead of complete disappointment.

"Really, Claire! I feel like it's so obvious. How do you not already know?" He insisted.

"Okay!" She laughed relieved, _He really does love me!_ She thought to herself with a giant smile. He was a lot more of a romantic than she had ever given him credit for. "Wait! Then why were you sorry!?" she suddenly demanded.

"Because I shouldn't have tried to convince you to stay." He explained.

She laughed in pure relieve.

"Don't do that to me, Quil!" she meant to sound angry but was too relieved to pull it off, "I thought you were pulling the rug out from under me!"

He chuckled before he said confidently, "Babe, I am in this thing! You never have to worry about that."

She smiled hugely at the thought.

"So, you really meant everything you said at the airport?" she asked him since they hadn't ever talked about that moment and thinking of the real reason that she had wanted to call him.

"Yes! Everything!" he told her truthfully.

"So…. You really want to be together now?" she asked him sincerely, knowing she needed the truthful answer to that question before she could decide how to move forward.

"Well….." he said a little hesitantly, instantly making her nervous again, "..that depends…."

"Depends on what?" she asked him suspiciously, feeling her heart pound.

"On if you're ready." He told her truthfully.

"Ready how?" she asked grateful they were making headway and that they didn't seem to have any communication issues.

"Well, I don't exactly want to be your rebound…. So, you know… when you are over Bennett and are ready." He explained.

She smiled to herself as she digested what he was saying to her. He really was all in already.

"So…. When I get back… you would be willing to try?" she asked him, trying to moderate her hope.

"Yeah, absolutely." He said honestly.

"So, no more five-year timeline?" she asked him finally getting to her point.

"Claire, I think we both know that I've proved there is no way I can keep my hands off of you for five freaking years!" he quickly responded.

She laughed before she asked the one thing that had been nagging at her since he had said goodbye at the airport in such a perfect way.

"So, why did you say that thing to Jamie?"

"What thing?" he asked confused.

"That thing about you not wanting to be with me because I wasn't a 'grown up'. It made me feel like you thought I was way too immature to even take seriously or something…" she told him honestly.

"What!?" he asked shocked. "Claire, I told him that _months_ ago! Way before anything started happening between us… back when I was trying to convince myself that I didn't have feelings for you!... And hell, you were still fifteen!"

"Really? …Because that's not how Jamie made it seem." She asked him a little doubtfully.

"Claire! Jamie is five! He makes it seem like batman does his laundry and Santa gives him rides to school! Really! I told him that when he asked me why I wasn't trying to stop you from going to homecoming with Bennett." He said insistently.

"Oh!" Claire said surprised by the new information. She couldn't argue with his summary of Jamie's reliability. It wasn't that Jamie wasn't honest, he just viewed the world differently.

"Claire, if it hadn't happened already, I definitely stopped seeing you as a little girl the moment you stood soaking wet in my kitchen flashing me your entire bra like some _fantasy_ and I couldn't look away. Trust me, I take you _very_ seriously!" he continued.

"Alright, now." She said seriously, thinking that they didn't need to get into their clearly very compatible physical relationship. "We don't need to rehash the bra insistent…."

"I actually wouldn't mind rehashing it a bit…" he quickly teased.

"Quil!" she chastised him.

"I'm sorry! But it's stuck in my mind, Claire…." He told her honestly.

"Stop!" she begged starting to feel a little mortified.

That had not been her intention that day and she wasn't sure she was completely thrilled with the result that had been left behind.

"Okay, okay. I'll be good. I promise." He said sincerely.

"Alright." She said getting back on track. "So, when I get home… You would want to try?" she clarified.

"Yes, I really would." He said a little breathlessly.

"Okay…. I think I would too." She said softly.

He was silent for a second before saying with a smile in his voice,

"Okay then… It's a date."

She smiled too before she saw Tami gesturing to her to come back over and help.

"Op. I gotta get back to work. I'll talk to you tonight." She explained quickly.

"Sounds good… Claire?" he said softly demanding her attention as she stood up from the tree and brushed herself off. She didn't know how he knew she wasn't paying as much attention since he couldn't see her but then she remembered that he just knew her _that_ well and that he really was her soulmate.

"Yes?" she said with a smile.

"I love you."

Her heart skipped a beat at the serious way he said it and she leaned against the tree while she smiled hugely and then said confidently,

"I love you, too." And she suddenly realized in that moment that she did love him too. Not the way she always had before but as more. She had been slowly falling for him without even realizing it. She had been so distracted by her heartache he had just swooped in and stollen her heart out from under her.

"I know, I'm pretty lovable." He teased instantly resorting back to his usual light-hearted self. She rolled her eyes but thought she secretly agreed.

"Bye!" she said insistently.

"Talk to you later, babe." He replied cheerfully so that she couldn't stop smiling as she hung up and then stuffed her phone back in her bra and ran over to lead Tami's horse out of the paddock.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 **Quil:**

Quil smiled to himself as he put his phone down after speaking with Claire on his work bench next to all his favorite tools. He saw the small framed photo-strip of the two of them together in a photo booth at an arcade on her fifteenth birthday hanging on the wall. She had framed the strip and given it to him for his thirtieth birthday six months later. He had decided to hang it in the shop since he usually spent more time down there than in his apartment.

"What's that cheesy face for?" Jake asked him.

He was there to check out the vintage truck Quil was restoring for a client that was paying him a ridiculous amount to do it. It was looking like he was going to make more off this one project alone than he usually did in a year. Jake had been having car lust over the entire project… that was until he explained to Quil that he was a restoring a vintage Porsche and then Quil suddenly felt like Jake had zero right to be experiencing any form of car-envy.

"Nothin. Just Claire." He answered back casually.

Jake had been making a face where he pushed his lips together and closed his eyes appreciatively the entire time he had been listening to Quil on the phone, he had even been making okay symbols and thumbs up. Quil had just ignored him and walked farther away while knowing it was pointless since he'd have to go probably 3 miles out for Jacob to not overhear.

"Naw man, not that stupid grin. What is it?" Jake said unconvinced.

"She just said she loved me…." Quil explained simply with a shrug.

"So? Is that the first time she's said it or something?" He asked him confused.

"No…." Quil said while shaking his head. "She's told me she's loved me since she was about two and a half years old but… I dunno… this time was different…" he tried to explain.

Jake nodded his head and then said, "It's a good sign man. She's choosing you. Is she over Bennett yet, you think?"

Quil shrugged and said, "You just heard me talking to her. She wants to be together now but I don't know if she's over him. I don't ever want to bring him up since I doubt she wants to talk about him."

"Yeah, just trust Claire. She's smart, she's not going to do something she's not ready for." Jacob assured him before obviously growing tired of so much relationship talk and saying. "Now can we get back to work? I would eventually like to go call my wife you know." as if Quil had been the one who had suggested that he needed his help.

Quil was just walking in after his post-workout run with Butch after hitting the gym with Bennett. It was what they had started doing together when Quil had been babysitting him and they had just kept at it… Partially out of habit and partially so that Quil could still keep tabs on him.

All the kid wanted to talk about was Macy, which Quil understood since he would be happy discussing nothing but Claire for the rest of his life, except that Macy was so annoying and Bennett seemed ridiculously whipped… plus his neck was just an entire collage of bruised and semi-healed skin in hues of yellows, greens, and purples. Quil wondered vaguely if Macy had some sort of neck fetish or something...

"Maybe you should get her to take it easy for a few days… you haven't even been with her for a week …" Quil had suggested after getting a look at him.

Bennett just shrugged and said, "When you know, you know."

"No one is disputing that, but spousal abuse is no joke either." Had been Quil's concerned reply.

He was just getting Butch some serious water and food and thinking that he might need to start limiting his runs with the dog to under three miles since he had collapsed by the door and hadn't moved since. Quil hadn't even broken a sweat on the six-mile run, but he had done more sets than usual at the gym since he just enjoyed keeping Bennett in his place by making it impossible for him to keep up with him. He was just taking off his shirt and was about to get in the shower when his phone started ringing on his nightstand. He looked at the clock to see that it was almost 9 which meant that Claire was at almost 11.

"Hey!" He answered enthusiastically the second he double checked to make sure it was her and not Jacob insisting he needed to come on another wolf-run just for old times' sake.

"Hey, I'm so sorry, Quil! I completely forgot about the bonfire tomorrow night! And then I forgot to mention it when we talked earlier! I feel _so_ bad! I knew how much it meant to you and I totally blew it off! I'm just the worst! I mean I'm probably not even considered girlfriend material after this." She said all in about one and half breaths as soon as he answered.

"Whoa!" He said just to get her to slow down.

He was still trying to catch up before he even noticed that she had just referred to herself as his potential girlfriend. He had never thought of them that way… using labels and defining their relationship like that. He had honestly never thought past just wanting to be with her.

"Calm down, Claire. It's okay. It's just one stupid bonfire. You've been to about a million of them with me, remember?" He reminded her hoping to calm her down.

She just groaned and he could hear her slap her face, so she must have hit it pretty hard. "I missed the last one too, remember? I just feel so bad that I didn't even say anything to you about it before I took off!"

It definitely hadn't escaped his notice that this was the second wolf event she would miss but she was all the way in Tennessee, so what could she do?

"Hey, Honey, It's okay! We'll go to the next one together, right?" He assured her while trying to get her to backtrack, she was talking remarkably fast.

"Right!" She answered immediately.

"Okay! So, first of all; you were on a plane about a total of two and half hours after I picked you up from school, so it wasn't like you had a ton of time to prep for anything you'd miss while you were gone. Secondly; you're definitely girlfriend material. You've got to be the most girlfriendy girl I have ever met. So, don't beat yourself up over it!" He continued.

Even as he said it he realized how true it was. She would be an amazing girlfriend, and labels actually seemed like a really good idea as soon as he thought about the number of other guys that had to be waiting in line for any of Claire's attention they could get.

"Okay!" She admitted with a laugh at his referring to her as 'girlfriendy'.

"So! Now that that is out. How was your day?" He asked her more calmly as he started digging through the fridge, now starving after his workout.

"It was really good actually!" She said starting to sound much calmer now. "I got to know a bunch of the people here on the ranch, and I made a few friends! We actually went out for coffee after work!"

 _So that explains the hyper speed!_ Quil thought in regards to Claire's fast paced talking since he had answered the phone.

"Cool! That sounds like fun! How many hands does your aunt have? I didn't realize her ranch was that big." He responded

"Yeah, I didn't either until I got here. There are five hands including me here and then Hank who is the full-time manager." She explained.

"Wow, that's quite the operation." He noted while he started compiling the beginnings of a gigantic roast beef sandwich.

"It really is, and oh my goodness, Quil! These people here are so amazing! This girl, Sarah. I just can't even imagine dealing with what she's been through and she's like the most optimistic person I've ever met! Everyone has these like truly awful back stories and yet they all end up here and are better for it!" She explained excitedly.

"It sounds like a pretty amazing place." He commented.

"It is! And everyone here has been really amazing to me, they all help me because of my stupid broken arm. And the horses! Man, Quil, these horses have like magical abilities, I swear! They are so soothing to be around! You feel like you can bare your whole soul to them and then walk away like a million pounds lighter! I spent three hours today helping one of the other hands shoe some of the horses and just standing there with them, talking to them, I mean…." She got a little breathless and then continued. "I don't even think I could describe the feeling, it's like your pain just leaks out of you and leaves you stronger somehow…."

"Wow! It sounds like it's been a really good experience for you." He noticed feeling grateful that if she had to be away from him than at least it was clearly worth it. She sounded like she was doing better than she had been since she had finally let him back into her a life after those cold months of separation.

She sighed hugely, "It's been amazing! I wish you were here!"

"I wish I was too. Well mostly I just wish I was with you." He told her honestly.

"I know! I'm sorry! Being apart sucks…" she said wistfully.

"Yes, it does." He agreed. "So, speaking of being apart… no pressure here… _but_ is there any end of that in sight?" He asked unable to stop himself, it was the question he had wanted to ask every time he had spoken to her since she had left. It was also the question his whole pack kept hounding him about. "Don't you have that appointment to get your full cast off next week?" It would even be worth seeing Greg again if it meant Claire coming home.

He heard her take a deep steadying breath before she said, "I'm honestly not sure when I'll be home, Honey. My dad offered to buy me a return ticket whenever I feel up to it but this is the busiest time on the ranch so they can actually use the help. My mom already scheduled me an appointment with a doctor here to get my full cast off and the partial put on."

His heart dropped so much he actually had to stop squeezing the bottle of horseradish sauce onto his sandwich and grab onto the edge of the sink with both hands for support.

"Okay." He said bracingly before he quickly went on. "…But, you need to do what's best for you, Claire. So, stay as long as you need, but also remember that if you need to come home, I'm sure that Tami can find some more local help… probably some with two arms too." He teased lightly at the end while trying to shove off the massive weight of depression that was trying to settle on his chest so that he couldn't breath.

"I know! But honestly, you're really the only reason I have to come home and it just seems like….." she faded off a little suddenly.

"Like what?" He asked sincerely.

"Like….. it's just that if we're going to be together for the rest of our lives than it seems like I shouldn't rush back just to be with you and throw away this opportunity to be here now…." She admitted a little sheepishly.

It took Quil a moment to process everything she was saying but once he did, it was immediately obvious to him that he would gladly trade these weeks away from each other if it meant he could spend the rest of his life with her.

He had already been silent for close to a minute while he processed and he hurried to answer before she could become too nervous.

"Of course, Claire! I definitely don't think you should come home just for me."

He heard her relieved breath shake as she let it out. He laughed at how nervous she clearly had been.

"Did you think I'd be mad?" He asked her worried.

"It's just that… I mean, we were just apart for four months and then less then two weeks later I hop on a plane and am gone again for weeks on end. It seems like you have some serious grounds to be upset with me." She admitted.

"Claire, you put way too much stuff on yourself. It's not like that… things just worked out that way and it's like you said, we have the rest of our life's to be together, right?" He clarified thinking that if she actually promised it then he could handle any number of coming weeks of separation much more gracefully.

"Of course!" She answered without skipping a beat.

"Okay then." He said with a huge smile. "Then we're fine… more than fine actually… I'd say we're great!"

She laughed before she said, "So how was _your_ day?"

"It was good. Better now that I'm talking to you." He said simply with a shrug.

"Yeah? What did you do today?" She asked sincerely.

"Not a whole lot. Jacob came over to check out the truck I've been working on…. Then I went to the gym and just got back from my run with Butch." He answered.

She laughed and asked, "Is he totally wiped?"

"Yup, completely! I had to put the food bowl smack in front of his face so that he wouldn't have to get up from where he collapsed by the door." He told her with a chuckle.

"Oh!" She crooned sympathetically "I'll take him running once I get back and then he will only have to do normal human length runs!"

Quil chuckled, "That'd probably be for the best!"

She laughed in response and then asked, "So, did you go to the gym with Bennett then?"

He was surprised that she would ask about Bennett since they hadn't talked about him really at all since she had left.

"Yeah, I did." He admitted.

"Cool. How'd it go?" She asked surprisingly casually.

He chuckled again and then told her all about how Bennett kept trying to up his reps every time they went, but Quil was secretly keeping track and would just up his own reps the same amount so that Bennett could never catch up to him.

She laughed and teased him and they talked casually about his day for another half an hour before she yawned hugely and said,

"I'm sorry, today just wore me out. I think I better go to bed so I don't fall asleep standing up tomorrow."

"Okay, baby, get some sleep." He said while thinking that he wished he could be there to hold her while she did so.

"Quil?" She said seriously.

"What's up babe?" He asked her curiously.

"I.. I just think I love you." She said sincerely.

His heart completely stopped for a moment before it pounded back a natural rhythm. He knew exactly how big of a deal it was for her to say it and that she wouldn't have said it unless she was really feeling it. He knew immediately she wasn't saying it the same platonic way she had always told him she loved him before. This was significant. This was the _more_ he had been looking for. He hadn't expected her to say it until she at least had a chance to come home and could see how she felt then. He smiled to himself before he had to cough and clear his throat as he had a sudden attack of emotion after her unexpected proclamation. He was suddenly blinking away tears while his eyes burned.

"Thanks, Claire." He said sincerely, "I love you, too." He continued confidently.

"I know. I'm pretty lovable." She teased quoting him.

He laughed and then said, "Yes. You really are! Too lovable in fact, causing all sorts of trouble!"

"What do you mean?" She laughed.

He was thinking about Greg and the way most guys reacted to her and then about his own reactions where he couldn't stay away from her when she was home.

"Nothing, hun. Don't worry about it, just get some rest." He reassured her.

"Okay." She said with a huge yawn. "Goodnight, I love you."

He smiled since he had just been about to say the same thing. So, he just said it anyways. "Goodnight. I love _you_."

Quil just stood in the kitchen smiling for a second after he hung up before he turned to Butch and said,

"..She thinks she loves me…."

He laughed and then ate his entire sandwich in about three bites. It wasn't until he was in the shower twenty minutes later, reliving the entire conversation in his mind, that he realized she had called him 'Honey'. He didn't think she ever had before. He suddenly thought about what Jacob had said about her needing to choose him… it definitely seemed like she was choosing him now. He was feeling pretty good about it when he got out of the shower just in time to answer Jakes call. He was about to tell him there was no way that he wanted to do _another_ run just for the fun of it when Jake asked him if he wanted to meet up to get a drink.

"Uh, sure… Why, what's up?" Quil had responded confused.

"Nothing man. I just have to leave on Sunday and I hardly get to see you. You up for it or were you about to snuggle with your blankie in bed?" Jacob replied.

"Ha ha." He laughed sarcastically. "Sure, where do you want to meet?"

He ended up meeting Jake at a bar down in La Push thirty minutes later. They had a good time playing darts and pool while acting like they might be seventeen again. They seemed to be having an unspoken competition to see who could drink the other under the table. Quil was on his eighth beer and fifth round of pool when the waitress that had hit on him that morning he was with Claire at Chubbies came up to him. He hadn't noticed her at all before the moment she was suddenly standing in front of him.

"Hey, stranger. I thought I recognized you. Monte Carlo and chili dog fries, right?" She had immediately addressed him like they had had much more of an interaction then they actually had.

"Yeah… Do you usually remember everyone's order?" He asked her a little impressed as Jake came over with two more beers.

"Just the one's from people who are hard to forget." She told him with a wink, "Well it looks like you guys are here for a good time. How about you come over and join my friends and I…. we can tell you more about the club we go to on weekends." She begged enticingly.

Quil looked over at Jacob who had been giving the girl an evaluating, unimpressed look before turning to Quil and giving him an annoyed expression. He surreptitiously lifting his bottle in his hand to take a pull from it while wiggling his ring finger at Quil to flash him his wedding ring as if Quil needed a reminder that they were both with women who would not be impressed if they went clubbing with some random girls they met in a bar.

"Uh… thanks but we're not really clubbing type of guys." He told her while smoothly blowing her off. Jake nodded his head in approval at his subtlety.

"Okay then, well at least let me buy you a drink and play a round of pool." She insisted.

'We already have drinks." He said as he lifted his beer and then drank half of it in a single pull.

"Okay, then just the round of pool!" She negotiated. She was clearly not going to take no for an answer.

Quil looked back at Jake who stared at him for a second and then shrugged.

"Alright…. Just pool then." Quil agreed.

He didn't see anything wrong with playing pool with her, especially while Jake was there, but he had a nagging feeling in his gut telling him it was a bad idea.

* * *

Quil woke up to what sound like thirty children running and screaming just outside the door. He flinched and pulled his pillow over his face to try to squeeze the pounding out of his head as he heard Jake groan somewhere above him. That was when he realized he was on the floor next to Jakes bed in the guest room of Paul and Rachel's house. He had been pretty wasted the night before and had crashed there instead of driving home.

"How much did we drink last night?" Quil groaned trying to remember the last time he had even been hung over.

"I lost track after you let Tina buy us those shots of tequila." Jake groaned back.

Knowing the speed of their metabolism Quil knew that it would have had to have been a _significant_ amount of alcohol to get them that drunk.

"I don't remember doing shots…" Quil said vaguely before he asked, "Who the hell is Tina?"

"Your co-ed from last night, remember?" Jake told him while checking his phone.

"The waitress!?" Quil asked having no memory of her name what so ever.

"Aw, shit. You better check your phone…" Jacob said.

"Why?" He asked confused pulling it off the floor to see no new notifications.

"Because I called Renesmee last night and I don't remember doing it…" Jacob explained.

"That can't be good." Quil thought out loud as he pulled up his own call log. He saw that he had missed a call from Claire at 1:14 and then had called her no less than three times over the next few hours.

"OH SHIT!" He said as he sat strait up.

"Called Claire huh?" Jake asked him while nodding understandingly.

"I gotta call her. I don't remember talking to her at all…" he said quickly as he hit her number. It rang twice and then was sent to voicemail. Quil turned with huge eyes to look at Jacob who said.

"That's not good, dude."

"No, it's not." Quil confirmed as he tried her again. It rang one time and then strait to voicemail.

Jake sucked in a breath and said, "She's freezing you out….. you better give her some space if she's that mad….. maybe you should send her some flowers or something…."

"With a note that says what? _Sorry I got drunk and booty called you last night, love Quil!_?" Quil asked sarcastically.

Jake just shrugged not seeming to have any better ideas.

"Do you think that might work?" Quil suddenly asked him seriously.

"I doubt it." He answered.

"Well what are you going to do about Renesmee?" Quil asked.

"What I always do. Give her two hours to be pissed and then come groveling back…. But she's probably not that mad… _I_ wasn't the one with a twenty-two-year-old throwing themselves all over me." He said.

Quil groaned as he laid back down. "What even happened last night!?"

Jake shrugged and said. "Come on let's go to Chubbies and get some food to puke up!" while knowing they digested food and healed too quickly to actually puke from a hang over.

"Only if 'Tina' isn't working…" Quil said as he stood up.

Tina wasn't working and by the time they had finished eating Quil's hang over was completely gone, and Jacob had already groveled his way out of the doghouse with Renesmee. Quil said goodbye to Jake saying that he would see him that night at the bonfire before stopping in briefly to check on his mom that he hadn't seen since Christmas.

She was at work just like he had been hoping she would be so he wouldn't actually have to chat and catch up with her. He wrote her a quick note explaining that he had been checking in on her while he was there and that he would call later before letting himself out of the house he had grown up in and heading back home.

He decided that the twenty-minute drive home was the perfect time and place for him to his start groveling.

He called Claire again, praying she would answer this time. It rang three times before she sent him to voicemail. He was starting to feel truly anxious about whatever he had said last night to make her freeze him out so much.

"Hey, Claire. Look baby, I know I screwed up last night… but I just need to know how bad, so I can be prepared for how mad you are, so please call me back so we can talk about it!" He pleaded over a message.

He felt incredibly antsy the rest of the drive home. He opened the door to his apartment just in time for Butch to sprint past him on his way out to relieve himself.

He called Claire again as he stood holding the door open for Butch to come back in. This time it rang eight full times before going to voicemail. He bit his lip and hung up before he got online on his phone and dropped two hundred bucks to have a bouquet of daffodils delivered in two hours with a note that simply said,

I'm sorry I was an idiot last night. Please call me.

Quil knew that he should be working but was too anxious to do more than pick up a tool before pacing and then setting it down to check his phone and then starting over. After two more hours of this behavior he gave up all together and grabbed Butch and a cooler and hopped in his car. He left his dog in the car with the windows down as he ran into the grocery store to grab the two giant sized cases of beer he was supposed to bring and some ice. He dumped it all into the cooler before he drove the rest of the way down to First Beach for the bonfire.

As soon as he got there he felt like it was a mistake to come without Claire. A wolf wasn't whole without his imprint and it was always assumed she would come with him to any event involving the wolves, so being at one without her felt a lot like going stag to a wedding that you were supposed to have a date for. It didn't help when Kim gave him a hug and then immediately asked,

"Hey, where's Claire at?"

Quil quickly explained she was visiting her aunt while Emily caught his eye.

"So, how are you two doing? Are you together yet?" She asked next.

Quil looked over to see Jake catching his eye and asking wordlessly if he had fixed things with Claire yet. He shook his head slightly before replying to Kim.

"Um, we're working on it… I think Claire needs a little time… you know she's still young." He responded as casually as he could, knowing there was no way he could play off that things were still just casual between them.

Quil had the same conversation at least five times… after the second time he got smart and was able to dodge out after the initial asking about Claire's where about by saying, "Hey, have you met Bennett yet?" And then introducing Bennett and then Macy as his imprint. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to introduce her as Bennett's 'girlfriend' even though she kept correcting him. But it usually kept people from asking about his and Claire's relationship status. He was relieved when it got dark and the whole group came to sit in a circle around the fire to listen to the traditional stories that this time would have an extra charged atmosphere to them since it was a new wolf's first time hearing them this way.

Quil sat down in a lawn chair on Jake's left side with Sam on his right. Seth was sitting on Quil's left side with Leah next to him and it was still incredibly bizarre and sobering to him to realize again that they now made up the tribal elders and leaders. It seemed like only a year ago that they had all been teenagers (with way more ability than anyone could naturally have) being directed by the men (and women) who were much smarter and wiser than they would ever be, whose places they now filled.

It was a great bonfire. One of the best in years, the only thing missing for Quil was obviously Claire. Butch had loved it though, even if he was freaked out initially by being around so many wolves in human form. But he warmed up quickly, playing with the dozens of children on the beach.

Quil got home around 1:30 and checked his phone for the millionth time that night to see that nothing had changed in the thirty seconds since he had last checked it. He caved in again and called Claire even though it was beyond late there. It rang eight times and then went to voicemail again. He wondered vaguely if he would ever hear the sound of Claire's voice outside of her voicemail greeting again before he left a message,

"Claire, come on. I know you're pissed and I don't know what I said last night but I need to hear from you. Please call me." He said firmly before breaking down and begging softly, "I love you, baby. Please just call me back."

He threw himself on his bed while he kicked off his shoes and eventually fell into a fitful sleep where he kept hoping that she would call back at any minute. He woke up at 9 am feeling like he would have been better off not having slept then having slept so crappy. He immediately grabbed his phone off his nightstand to see, like he knew that he would, that Claire hadn't called. He immediately called her. When he got her voicemail again for what felt like the millionth time he quickly left an agitated message.

"'Kay that's it, Claire. You don't want to talk that's fine but I'm booking a flight. Then you can just ignore me in person until you're ready to work this out."

He hung up quickly and immediately starting checking flights on his phone trying to find the fastest route to Tennessee.

 **Claire:**

Claire hung up the phone on Thursday night feeling amazing. She had spontaneously decided to tell Quil that she thought she was in love with him and it had left her feeling tingly and like she was on fire. She had quickly gotten ready for bed, opting to shower in the morning and just throwing her skirt and shirt on the floor as she pulled on pajamas and a camisole with a built-in bra shelf to sleep in. She went into the bathroom that she shared with Sarah, the other ranch hand that lived there, who Claire had already bonded deeply with. And washed her face and brushed her teeth before she slid into bed and fell asleep replaying the conversation between her and Quil in her mind. For the first time in months it felt like her future was clear and bright. She knew exactly where she was headed; toward Quil, and she couldn't imagine ever wanting to go in any other direction.

Three hours later she sat strait up in bed with tears in her eyes. Since the night she had arrived she had been having reoccurring nightmares about the accident. She kept brushing them off thinking that they would go away if she just ignored them, but they seemed to be getting worse.

The one she had just had had been particularly brutal. Jamie had agreed to come get ice cream with her and Bennett because Quil was going to meet them there. Quil's Camaro had been the car that had plowed into Claire's side and as she faded into unconsciousness she could hear Bennett screaming her name and Jamie crying in the back seat. That was when she had woken up. She was shaking all over and the cast on her right arm just helped make the accident feel more vivid in her mind. She started crying uncontrollably as she grabbed her phone and called Quil, knowing that he was the only one who would truly be able to make her feel better.

He didn't answer, and she wondered if he had a patrol tonight. She was shaking worse than ever and felt like she might be going into shock or having an anxiety attack from the nightmare that just felt all too real. She quickly called Rachel knowing that she would at least be able to reason with her enough to help her gain some control. When she didn't answer Claire started to feel desperate.

She stood up and started pacing her small room while caving into an idea that she knew immediately had the potential to be one of her worst ideas ever. She quickly called Bennett while not knowing what else to do.

They were supposed to still be friends, right? That was how she reasoned it with herself while thinking that he would at least be able to understand what she was going through since he had been in the accident too.

"Claire?" He had answered surprised after the second ring.

She just started crying worse than ever as the sound of his voice reminded her of him screaming her name in her dream. Claire was starting to think that some part of her subconscious brain had actually heard him yelling for her the night of the accident.

"Claire! Are you okay!?" He asked instantly concerned.

"No!... Yes! I don't know! I just keep having these awful nightmares about the accident and I didn't know who else to call… but it's just stupid. I'm sorry! I shouldn't have bothered you!" She gushed out while continuing to cry.

"No, it's okay! I get them too… nightmares about the accident…" he said softly.

"You do?" She asked surprised.

"All the time," he readily admitted, "I try not to think about it when I'm awake…. But, Claire…. It was the worst thing I've ever experienced… I literally thought that I might have killed you…" his voice broke a little as he seemed to relive it softly to her.

Claire was surprised that it wasn't making her feel worse hearing his perspective of the horror, but it was oddly making her feel better knowing that she wasn't ridiculous for still being traumatized and that Bennett was sharing in the experience with her.

"I keep dreaming that Jamie agreed to go get ice cream with us…. that he was in the car when we were hit…" she admitted in a shaky whisper.

She heard Bennett shiver and hiss slightly at the idea.

"It was the worst thing I've ever gone through….. well almost…. I actually think the breakup might have been worse…" he admitted softly.

"I don't really want to talk about the breakup..." She answered immediately.

"…. You're right, I'm sorry. Why don't you just tell me about your nightmare and I can tell you how it was different from what really happened so that you know it wasn't real?" He suggested while still whispering.

She nodded her head, appreciating the gesture especially since tears were still sliding down her cheeks and she hadn't stopped shaking. It took her fifteen minutes to tell him her dream while he stopped her at each incorrect detail and pointed out the truth of what had really happened. By the end of it she was surprised by how much better she felt now knowing for certain that the dream hadn't been real.

"I just can't get over that Jamie might have been in the car with us…" she confessed.

"Yeah, but he wasn't." Bennett reassured her.

"I know. But what if he had been!?" She asked starting to feel panicked again. "He was supposed to be! He was supposed to be in the car, Bennett!"

"Yeah, but he wasn't." Bennett repeated insistently, "Look Claire, What I've learned from this whole experience is that you can't dwell on what could have happened. You can only focus on what actually _did_ happen."

"But-" she started when he cut across her,

"What if the bus had hit you harder? What if you had died? What if you falling over the airbag was the last time that I ever saw you? What if I had waited for you to check movie times before I had pulled out the stupid car? What if I had kissed you longer in the hall, then we wouldn't have left at that exact time, right? Claire, do you have any idea how many 'what-if's' have eaten me alive the last couple weeks? What if I hadn't even transformed into a wolf? What if Quil hadn't imprinted on you fourteen years ago? What if I never phased again? What if I left and got as far from Washington as I could? What if I took you with me?" He seemed to have gained so much momentum letting out feelings he had clearly suppressed that he couldn't seem to stop now. "It will destroy you, Claire. You _can't_ focus on what could have been…. Only what actually happened." He finished emphatically.

"Alright," she promised. "You're right. Jamie wasn't there, and I can't fixate on if he had been." She finished, trying to get to the real reason they were talking and steering away from any potentially painful conversation about their relationship.

"Okay, good." He told her honestly.

She took a deep breath and noticed how much steadier she felt then before she had called him.

"Thank you, Bennett. Honestly, I feel so much better. I didn't know who else to call since Quil's on patrol tonight." She said sincerely.

"Quil's not on patrol tonight..." He said quickly.

"What?" She asked confused.

"Yeah, I just got off and Brady took my place… did he tell you he was?" He asked suspiciously.

"No, I just assumed… I'm sure he just slept through my call." She said honestly. "Well thanks for talking me through it, Bennett, I really appreciate it…"

"No problem…. It actually felt strangely good to talk about the accident for once." He admitted.

"Yeah, it did." Claire agreed.

"You can still call me anytime, Claire. I hope you know that." He told her sincerely.

She nodded her head as she teared up and thought that it would take a _LOT_ for her to voluntarily call him again.

"Mmmhmm." She said noncommittally.

"Just maybe do me a favor and not mention to Macy that I'm still having dreams about you and the accident, alright?" He told her.

 _He's having dreams about me?_ She thought to herself before she gave a small chuckle and said,

"Tell you what, you don't mention to Quil that I called you up at 3:30 am and I won't tell Macy?"

"Deal. Well goodnight, Claire." He replied.

"Goodnight." She said softly forcing herself to let go of him as she pulled the phone back and hung up.

She breathed out forcefully, feeling proud of herself. She had unintentionally confronted two of her demons; Bennett and the accident and was feeling stronger for it. She wasn't even crying over Bennett being with Macy. In fact, she was feeling a tiny sliver of happiness that he had someone there for him now in the way she never could be again and that gave her hope as she laid back down and went back to sleep.

It was only twenty minutes later that she woke up to her phone ringing. She reached over and squinted at it to see that it was Quil. He must have woken up and saw her missed call and called back knowing something must have been wrong.

"Hey. Did you see my missed call?" She answered trying to sound awake despite feeling groggy.

"Is this Claire!?" A giggling female voice that definitely wasn't Quil addressed her.

"Um…. Who's this?" Claire asked feeling much more awake.

"This is Tina!" She giggled. "I'm the girl with your boyfriend here and I just have to tell you how HOTTTT he is! I mean do you know what I would do if I was with that…." She slurred. The girl was clearly wasted but Claire just wanted to know how she had gotten ahold of Quil's phone or known to call her.

"Wow, Tiny. Thanks for calling. Is Quil there?" She asked calmly.

There was a ridiculous round of giggling before she responded.

"Yes! I mean, no! You're not supposed to know that he went out tonight!" She laughed breathlessly.

"Well since I do know now, how about you let me talk to him?" Claire asked nicely knowing that shutting this girl down wouldn't get her anywhere. She could hear what sounded like Quil's and Jacob's laughs in the background.

She just heard another round of laughter before Quil came on the phone.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Quil? What's going on? Where are you?" She asked confused and wanting some answers.

"Claire!?" He asked excitedly, "I was just talking about you! I was telling Jake how beautiful you are! So beautiful!"

She sighed, immediately realizing he was drunk too. She sat up in bed and wrapped her broken arm around her knees and pressed her forehead to them.

"So, you're with Jake? Are you still on the Makah reservation or did you go down to La Push?" She asked reasonably.

"Um….." he said as Claire heard Tina say loudly "Tell her that I don't mind sharing!" Quil laughed for a solid thirty seconds like it was the funniest thing he had ever heard.

"Quil?" Claire asked trying to get his attention again. "Is Jacob with you?"

"Um… yes… Jake say hi!" He said before she heard Jacob yell loudly, "Hi, Claire!"

"Great." She said out loud before she clarified, "Is Jake drunk too, Quil?"

"Jake are you drunk!?" Quil asked loudly before laughing again. "He says no but he said it backwards so I'm sure he's wasted!"

"Okay. I'm gonna go back to bed. Do me a favor, Quil. Don't drive, okay?"

"Okay, I won't." he promised. "I love you so much, Claire!"

Claire just sighed in frustration trying to think of a diplomatic response before she realized he probably wouldn't remember the conversation at all and just hung up. She tried to shake off her feelings of frustration while she decided she would get an explanation in the morning and went back to bed.

She had just fallen asleep when her phone rang again. The conversation was really just a repeat this time with Jake being the first one on the line and he kept saying something about that she needed to choose Quil followed by Tina propositioning her to share Quil and then going so far as to offer to have a three-way before Claire hung up on her. By this point Claire was getting past frustrated to full blown upset. She had spoken to Quil hours ago and he hadn't mentioned anything about going out with Jacob and now he was somewhere down in La Push, full blown wasted, harassing her and clearly with a woman willing to do anything he asked of her.

She got up and used the restroom before she washed her face which helped to calm her down. She went back in her room to go back to bed and saw her phone ringing for a third time. She almost sent it to voicemail but then she was worried Quil would try to do something stupid like drive home, so she answered.

"Claire!" He had yelled. "Just one more round of shots, Jake! Come on, it'll be fun!" He laughed and instantly made her wonder if she was needed for this conversation. She had never seen Quil drunk before and so far, she was not a fan.

"Don't you think it's time you stopped drinking?" She asked him not bothering to hide her irritation.

"Why?" He asked her completely surprised.

"Alright! Goodbye!" She said about to hang up.

"Claire, wait!" He said so seriously he almost sounded sober again.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing happened with Tina! She's not even nearly as hot as you are, Claire!" He said insistently. "Hey!" She heard Tina's voice sound outraged before she started laughing hysterically.

"That's great, Quil. Really." She said completely annoyed now.

"Seriously, Claire. I keep telling everyone that I never touched you but what they don't know is how badly I wanted to!" He told her sounding surprisingly clear.

"Quil." She said as she tried to find patience to reason with him. "Please stop. Just grab Jacob and go home already…"

"No really, Claire! That day with you… you were all wet.. and you were just so _sexy_! I just wanted to rip your clothes off right there. I want to throw you on my bed and-"

"Quil!" She cut across him angrily but he didn't even seem to hear her. He just kept going using some explicit and very descriptive language as he continued to go into detail about what exactly he had wanted to do with her that day.

She tried to cut him off one more time before she simply hung up and threw the phone away from her in complete disgust. She was suddenly crying again and shaking everywhere. She had never resented Quil for being attracted to her before but suddenly she wished that he wasn't if that was where his mind went when he was.

She had less then forty minutes before she had to get up and she was way too upset to get any rest anyways, so she just gave up and left her phone where it was on the far corner of her bed, in case he tried to call her again, and left to take a shower. She thought that might help calm her down and at the very least help her feel less dirty after that conversation.

She decided to head downstairs and see if she could find some coffee before she showered… or at least get Tami to help her wrap her arm. She walked into the kitchen to find Luke making coffee with only the light above the sink on in the dark kitchen.

"Hey." She said surprised. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I didn't go home. I slept in one of the cabins." He explained.

She was about to ask why but then realized it was none of her business and with his history was probably pretty personal.

"Why are you up so early?" He asked her surprised.

She just shrugged and said, "Rough night." He nodded and let it drop the same way she had let his explanation drop.

"So, coffee?" He asked her as the pot beeped.

"Please! And do you think you could help me wrap my arm?" She asked.

He choked on his coffee he had been sipping before he said, "Help you what?"

"…Wrap my arm…" she said lifting her casted arm that wasn't in her sling yet. "So, I can shower… I'm not supposed to get it wet…" she explained.

"Oh! Yeah I can do that." He laughed with some sort of wicked gleam in his eye.

She nodded, exhausted as she got a mug out and poured coffee into it before pulling the milk out of the fridge. She turned around to pour it in her coffee just in time to catch Luke completely checking her out in her pajamas. She just froze where she was to stare at him until he stopped.

"Sorry." He admitted with a cough.

"So, tell me, Luke… Are all men just basically perverts?" She said irritably as she poured the milk in her coffee and then slammed it back into the fridge.

"Wow, some one is really not a morning person…" he noted.

"Not when I'm kept up all night by drunk idiots..." she started mumbling to herself before Luke said,

"Aw, I see what's going on here… You were booty called last night!"

She looked up at him sharply before looking away again not wanting to look into his blue eyes that were so intense. She just dug a spoon out of the drawer and refused to answer.

"Your ex-boyfriend?" He asked her knowingly.

"Something like that…" she muttered.

He nodded his head and said, "Yeah, I want to say that we're not all perverts but I'd guess by the looks of you that there are very few men who aren't a bit pervy around you…. Maybe the gay ones…." He reasoned.

She froze where she was. _What did he just say about me!?_ She thought shocked. She looked up at him as he shrugged and then said,

"Here I'll help you with your arm."

She nodded, not knowing how else to respond. She pulled saran wrap out of the drawer and handed it to him as she reached her arm out as far as she could so that she wouldn't have to stand as close to him. She could see his pulse beating in his neck as he quietly wrapped the plastic steadily down her arm. When he got to the bottom he ripped it off and pressed it down before he said,

"I'm sorry. I basically always say what I think out loud and it usually makes people uncomfortable but the truth is…. Claire, _you_ make _me_ uncomfortable."

He gently reached out and touched her left shoulder softly with the back of his knuckles and slowly ran his hand down her arm before he pulled away and stepped back against the counter where he picked up his coffee and started drinking it like nothing unusual had occurred.

"Please don't touch me." She said softly but with authority a moment late.

"Why not?" He asked her curiously.

"Because I don't like it." She responded immediately.

"You don't like it, or you don't like how _much_ you like it?" He asked her.

She was about to respond about thirty different things all about how full of himself he was when he laughed and said,

"I'm just kidding, Claire. Don't worry… if you don't want me to touch you, I won't touch you again."

It cut her off and left her short. She just started backing out of the kitchen as she said vaguely, "Thanks for the help." He nodded his head calmly as she went back upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom.

The rest of the morning was spent giving tours of the ranch and its facilities to a group of social workers as Quil kept calling at inopportune moments. She didn't really want to talk to him anyways. She was still mad as all get out at him plus she couldn't see any good coming from her talking to him before she had a chance to get some more sleep and calm down. She kept sending him to voicemail every time he called.

She was exhausted but had a productive day. The morning was spent answering questions and giving tours and, in the afternoon, Tami asked Claire to help Luke finish shoeing the horses. She was hesitant since it was a slow process and would involve a lot of one on one time with Luke but it also involved a lot of time with the horses and Claire wasn't really in a position where she could refuse anyways.

She had been dodging Quil's calls all morning so she decided to leave her phone in her room after lunch so she wouldn't have to stress about it. She was hoping if she stayed focused and helped Luke shoe the horses quickly then she might have enough time to squeeze in the nap she desperately needed.

She made it to the barn, where Luke already had a horse, feeling irritable and tired. It took her a few minutes of snuggling with the horse she was there to keep calm and focused but she noticed that Luke was keeping quiet. She didn't know that much about him, but the day before when she had spent all afternoon shoeing Gus with him he had been casual and kept some light conversation going pretty much the whole time. Today he seemed intense in his silence and when she looked at him she noticed his hands shaking.

"Are you alright?" She asked concerned.

He nodded his head quickly and said, "Fine."

He sounded like he was in pain.

"What's wrong? You don't look so great…." She told him.

He stepped back from the horse as his naturally darker skin seemed to turn a little gray.

He shook his head as he sat down on the floor and put his head between his knees. Claire led the horse into the one stall in the barn and shut her in before coming back to him.

"Do you need a bucket or something?" She asked thinking he might puke at any moment.

"Water." He said shortly.

She walked across to the tool bench where he had left his refillable water bottle with the ranches logo on it and brought it over to him.

"Thanks." He said shortly as he opened it and started downing it quickly.

She didn't say anything in response as she sat on the floor next to him. She still wasn't quite comfortable around him after what he had said and the way he had softly touched her skin, leaving a burning trail behind his touch that morning, but she was exhausted and not going to turn down a chance to rest now that it was here. She sighed and leaned her head against the wall behind her as she closed her eyes and asked,

"Everything alright?"

"Don't let the health of a junkie stress you." He said unconcerned but his voice sounded strained enough that she opened her eyes to look at him. He was shaking worse than ever and he had dark circles under his eyes.

"Withdrawal?" She asked him surprised.

He just shrugged lightly.

"How long has it been since your last hit?" She asked concerned.

"Too long." He answered immediately. He looked over at her sitting next to him to see the slightly scared and concerned look on her face, he laughed slightly and said, "It's been over two years… it just always feels too long…. It's not real withdrawal…. Just phantom ones, they hit every so often…" he took a deep breath and put his head between his knees again before he continued. "I could feel it coming on… that's why I stayed here last night."

She was stunned into silence as she contemplated the daily struggle it was for him to simply stay clean.

"Tell me something!" He said desperately.

"What?" She immediately asked trying to help since he clearly wanted a distraction.

"Tell me about the booty call you got last night." He suggested.

"Um excuse me?" She asked irritably. She wanted to help but she wasn't about to repeat any of the things that never should have been said last night.

He scoffed out a small harsh laugh and said, "Not like that… just who was the guy? You seemed like it wasn't the douche who dumped you."

She shrugged and said, "It wasn't….. But I really don't want to talk about it….. is there anything else you want to know about?"

"You." He said simply with a shrug.

"Me? What about me?" She asked confused.

"Anything…. What do you do back home… some people have hobbies… some people do drugs…" he said at a lame attempt to joke at his situation, "What do you usually do."

"Well… when I have two good arms I usually cheerlead." She explained much more comfortable with this round of conversation.

He sat up suddenly and turned to look at her.

"You're a cheerleader?" He asked her skeptically.

"Yeah…." She said confused by his reaction.

"Wow." He said surprised before he put his head back between his legs.

"What?" She asked.

"You just don't seem like the type." He said to the floor.

"What, competitive?" She asked.

"No…. you seem plenty competitive." He said surprising her. "You just don't seem that archaic, I guess… It's hard to imagine you putting on a little skirt and picking up the pom poms to cheer on some guys _actually_ playing a sport."

She thought about his explanation of cheerleading and decided to not be defensive as she explained.

"It's not like that… well… not mostly… it's a little bit that way during football season… but mostly it's competing against other teams. It's really competitive and difficult… it takes a lot of athleticism and I only made my varsity squad this year because I can do a backhand spring." She explained.

"Really?" He asked her surprised.

"Yeah really. I'd show you if I didn't have a broken arm." She said truthfully.

"Wow." He said impressed.

"So, how does that work? Competing I mean." He asked clearly wanting to continue the distracting conversation.

She continued to explain the details of how competing worked for ten more minutes until he had sat backup and stretched his legs out in front of him as he leaned back against the wall.

"You look better." She noticed, evaluating his shakes which had decreased and the color in his face that was coming back.

He nodded and said, "You're a good distraction."

She shrugged, "I try." she closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall.

"So, I never asked you how you broke your arm?" He said as he touched her cast and sling sitting six inches from him.

"I was in a car accident." She said simply without bothering to open her eyes.

"So you said… with your boyfriend, right?" He prodded.

She nodded with her eyes still closed. "Ex-boyfriend." She corrected.

"Right... ex-boyfriend who still booty-calls…. So, what happened?" He asked her.

"I told you.. the booty call wasn't from him… um what happened that caused the accident you mean?" She asked him barely in a whisper.

She felt like she didn't have the energy to even talk anymore. She thought he might have nodded but couldn't be sure since she couldn't turn or even open her eyes to look at him.

"Um…" she said with a yawn. "He… Bennett... was driving me home from a competition… he was waiting to make a left turn out of the parking lot when we were rear ended and pushed into oncoming traffic… we were hit on my side by a bus from a competing school… it wasn't his fault." She explained. While rubbing her arm and thinking about how much she had had to relive the stupid accident in the last 14 hours.

"Wow. That's pretty intense…" he mused. "So, if the accident wasn't his fault… then why did you have to breakup?"

She shrugged with her eyes still closed. "It's complicated."

He was silent for a second before he said confidently, "It involves whoever booty called you last night, doesn't it?…"

She shrugged again and said, "Yeah, I guess he did play into it."

"You seem to have a complicated life, Claire." He noted.

"You have no idea…." She said simply while praying he would be quiet for just five minutes so that she could get some rest.

She woke up to someone saying her name and shaking her gently. She first realized that she was in someone's arms and then immediately knew that they weren't Quil's. Her head was against someone's chest with their arm around her but they felt wrong. She didn't fit right the way she did with Quil. The arm around her shook her softly again and said,

"Claire?"

That was when she realized it was Luke's voice and that she was asleep in his arms. She sat up and opened her eyes in the same movement. They were still sitting on the barn floor leaning against the wall. She must have shulmped over onto Luke when she fell asleep and then he had wrapped his arm around her. She could see the sun starting to go down outside of the barn door.

"How long was I asleep for?" She asked still feeling a little confused.

"I have no idea, I fell asleep too. I just woke up." He said and she turned to look at him and noticed that his hair was pressed up in the back where he had been leaning against the wall.

"Man, talk about sleeping on the job…." She said guiltily as she rubbed at her face and then her eyes before pulling away makeup she forgot she was wearing and making her face an even bigger mess than it had to have already been.

"…And not sleeping with coworkers…" he said teasingly.

"Stop." She said instantly annoyed at his innuendos.

"What? So, you'll take a booty call at all hours but not a joke?" He said defensively.

"I _don't_ take booty calls. Look I'm really not that type of girl so please stop acting like I am…" she said as she stood up and brushed herself off.

"Acting like what? What type of girl do I think you are?" He asked her while staring her down pitilessly with his intense eyes.

"The type of girl that shows up for a few weeks out of the year and is interested in a fling when she's here." She answered immediately refusing to let him intimidate her.

"How am I acting like that?" He asked using his same too smooth tone of ultra-confidence.

"Oh please! Don't act like you don't know exactly what you're doing. Or that this would be your first work place fling, it sounds like you get around plenty every summer." She said calling him out.

"What does that have to do with anything?" He asked innocently.

Claire just rolled her eyes as she turned and walked away. If he was determined to keep up this innocent persona and acting like every move he made wasn't completely intentional then she had no interest in continuing a conversation with him.

"Wait, wait, wait!" He said catching up to her. "That's not fair, you're saying that I act like you would be interested in a fling and I want to know what I've done to you to make you think I'm interested in ever being more than coworkers."

She stopped by the fence to the paddock and turned to face him before she said skeptically,

"You're kidding, right?"

He shrugged like he was completely serious and then said, "You've been here for less than a week, how could I possibly have given you the impression that I think you'd be interested in a fling with me…. Or even that I'm interested in you!" He reasoned against her.

She gave him a skeptical look and then stepped toward him as she reached her left hand up under the sleeve of his shirt to touch his shoulder with the back of her hand. He shivered slightly at her touch as she ran her hand softly all the way down his arm before saying softly.

"…. The truth is… you make me uncomfortable….."

He looked completely shocked for a second before she smirked at him and he realized she was just quoting what he had said and done that morning.

"Yeah, don't think I don't know that's a line." She told him quickly.

He grabbed her wrist in his hand as she pulled it away from his arm. She had been turning to keep walking away but stopped and looked back at him.

"Just because it's a line doesn't mean it's not true…" he said in a strange tone. She had been staring at his hand wrapped around her wrist and stopped to look up at him. His eyes felt like they were piercing her as she realized it was the first thing she had heard him say that sounded completely true. "Believe it or not but you _do_ make me uncomfortable…"

She opened her mouth to respond but she had no idea what to say… maybe apologize for making him uncomfortable? Or else tell him that her heart was already claimed in a seriously tangled web of complicated relationships? That even if that weren't the case, that she wasn't the girl he was looking for since she wasn't interested in commitment free flings anyways?

She just stood there gapping at him for a moment before he said,

"It's okay, Claire. You don't have to say anything. I get it. You aren't interested. But that doesn't mean I wasn't being honest… I'm pretty much honest to a fault."

He finally released her hand. She pulled it up to tuck her hair behind her ear as she said,

"I can see that."

She was surprised when he laughed.

"How old are you?" He asked her sincerely.

"Sixteen... Why?" She responded.

He whistled through his teeth before he said, "Damn, Claire, you are trouble."

She stared at him in confused disbelief as he said, "Look, I've clearly given you the wrong idea here but I'd actually really like to be friends."

"Why?" She asked in disbelief.

"Why?" He repeated confused and surprised.

"Why would you want to be friends?" She clarified.

"Do you have to overanalyze everything?" He asked her.

She shrugged as she thought that may be the case. She was starting to become jaded and develop trust issues.

"You're only here for a few weeks, right? So, let's be friends. Trust me I can always find another fling, but good friends are few and far between." He explained while sounding serious and sincere.

She looked at him a little exasperated. He clearly didn't have a hard time getting a girl if he was that sure about it. But if he was really offering his friendship with no strings attached and knew exactly where they stood then she thought it would only make the next few weeks go smoothly instead of becoming more complicated. She actually thought if she could break past his initial come-on phase then he would probably be a really good friend, he seemed very loyal.

"Alright. Friends it is." She agreed as he smiled and nodded.

"Claire! There you are! We've all been looking for you for the last twenty minutes!" Sarah's voice interrupted them.

"Hey, sorry, we got caught up… What's up?" Claire explained lamely.

"You got some serious flowers waiting for you back at the ranch house! I definitely need details because the card is sealed but we're all dying to know who would send you flowers all the way out here!" Sarah gushed excitedly.

Claire's heart dropped, she knew exactly who the flowers would be from and that the reason behind them wasn't nearly as romantic as Sarah assumed. She thought about saying that it was her birthday and that they were from her family except that Tami would know that wasn't true. She turned to Luke wide eyed as she contemplated how to make the flowers as small a deal as possible. Luke seemed confused for a second at her beseeching look until understanding dawned across his face and he said surprised,

"Oh! Booty-call sends flowers!?"

"What, Claire!? You had a booty-call!? How did I not notice that! I didn't even hear you leave ever… or oh! Did you sneak someone in!" Sarah immediately picked up on as Claire slapped Luke across the chest.

"Thanks a lot!" She muttered darkly to him. This was exactly what she was trying to avoid.

"NO! Sarah, I never had a booty call! Luke is giving me a hard time because my ex called me late last night….. they're probably from him… I know he feels bad since, you know, he dumped me last week and is with my friend this week…." Claire tried her best to tie together as much truth as possible while downplaying the situation but realized that she was starting to stray wildly from the truth.

"Wait….. how did Luke know your ex called you late last night?" Sarah asked suspiciously eying the two of them together.

"She told me over coffee this morning." Luke said smoothly.

"You two went out for coffee…and now Claire's ex is sending her giant bouquets of flowers?" Sarah asked more suspicious than ever.

"NO! Sarah, you're getting it all wrong! We had coffee in the _kitchen_ this morning! Luke and I are just friends…" she insisted suddenly reminding herself vividly of Bennett telling Macy that the two of them were just friends. "And I don't even know who the flowers are from…. It's really not nearly as dramatic as you're making it seem."

Sarah evaluated her for a moment over her pursed lips before saying, "Alright, if you say so, Claire. You definitely seem like a straight arrow so…." She shrugged and said more happily, "Well don't you want to see your flowers!?"

 _Not really!_ She thought to herself as she thought about how she didn't really have any desire to see Quil's transparent attempt to buy back her affection after he had seemingly thrown it away. She considered telling Sarah she could just have the bouquet but decided she should at least look at them and read the note first.

"Yeah, definitely. Let's go check it out." She said with zero enthusiasm.

"Wow, I'd be way more excited to be getting flowers if I was you…" Sarah noted and Claire just shrugged not willing to explain that the flowers themselves weren't the problem.

Claire walked into the ranch house to see a large bouquet of daffodils in a vase with a sealed note sticking out with her name typed across it. She sighed as she thought about how beautiful they really were and wished that Quil had decided to send them because she had told him she loved him the night before and not as a lame Band-aid to try to patch the now gapping bridge between them.

She was suddenly furious as she marched up to them and grabbed the envelope. She struggled with it for a moment between her casted right hand and her left until Luke walked up behind her and gently took it from her hands and quickly ripped it open in one smooth move. He went to hand it to her but she shook her head.

"You read it." She said. She suddenly didn't want to hear what Quil had to say but also knew she couldn't ignore it.

Luke shrugged before he pulled the note out and stared down at it for about a half a second before he scoffed loudly.

"What!?" Claire immediately asked.

"' _Sorry for being an idiot last night, please call me.'_ Wow… that's weak. Who is this guy, Claire?" Luke asked clearly less than impressed.

"You're kidding me. That's all it says!?" Claire asked in disbelief as she yanked the card right out of his hand, determined to find the heartfelt apology he was hiding from her.

"So, you _did_ have a booty call last night!" Sarah immediately accused.

No! I didn't. It was just a drunk dial….." Claire defended.

"Did he show up?" Sarah intensely probed.

"No, of course not. He's still in Washington." Claire answered truthfully.

"Did it get dirty?" She immediately asked.

Claire was suddenly interested in taking a closer look at the flowers but caught Luke nodding silently to Sarah out of the corner of her eye.

"Yeah, then it was a booty call! Claire! Who knew you were a dirty girl!?" Sarah immediately teased.

"No! I'm not! It's not like that! I actually hung up as soon as it started to get dirty. I definitely didn't encourage or invite this!" She said while gesturing toward the flowers like they were connected to the dirty conversation.

"Sure, Claire! Sure!" Sarah laughed as she walked out the door.

"Sarah! No really! It wasn't like that!" Claire called after her but she was already gone.

Claire suddenly started tearing up. She just couldn't handle another reputation of being the easy girl here in a brand-new place that she had only come to escape all of that. She sat down dejected in a chair in front of the table with the giant bouquet that now stood as just a painful reminder. She put her elbow on the table and her face in her hand as she tried to pull back at her tears but she was just so exhausted… physically and especially emotionally.

Luke seemed a little shocked at her silent breakdown in front of him but he sat down next to her and stayed completely silent while she cried for at least a few minutes. She appreciated that he wasn't rubbing it in her face or making fun of her for once.

"You aren't going to call him just because he sent flowers, are you?" He asked concerned.

She shrugged, "I'll have to call him eventually…." She replied.

"Why?" He asked obviously thinking that she should move on from the jerk who sent flowers and had made her cry.

"Because…. I just…. We're…. it's hard to understand…." She fumbled wishing there was a simple way to explain the way that she and Quil were permanently connected.

"Try me." Luke insisted.

"Why does it even matter?" Claire asked not wanting to get into it.

"Because, the way I see it …you got dumped recently and it had something to do with this asshat who called you drunk at four AM to ask for sexual favors and then thinks he can buy you off with an expensive bouquet and the worst apology I've ever heard." Luke replied.

"It's not like that….." Claire said hesitantly while hating how much truth was in that summary. She knew that Luke didn't know or understand all of the love that Quil had for her too but that didn't mean there wasn't truth to the ugly side as well.

"Really? Then what's it like? Because you don't _seem_ like a girl with no self-respect to me." Luke said skeptically.

"Hey! I have self respect! Haven't I already proven I'm not just looking for an easy fling? That I'm _not_ the girl you call when you're looking for a booty call?" She instantly defended.

"Then don't call him back." He replied calmly.

Claire blew out a breath in frustration even as she knew she needed to check her phone which probably had dozens of missed calls.

"Are you coming to the bonfire tonight?" Luke asked suddenly changing the subject.

"There's a bonfire tonight?" Claire asked surprised.

"Yeah, we do one every few weeks. This time I think it's just the employees and not the residents that are coming…. You should come… it'll be a good way to not-call." He reasoned with her.

"…Alright, that sounds like fun….. only what are the chances that Sarah has already spread the word about my 'booty call' last night?" She asked skeptically.

"Pretty high…." He answered honestly. "But the good thing about being in a place where everyone has a past is that no one really cares or judges… Just don't act like it bothers you and no one will talk about it for more than a minute."

Claire thought about it and realized he was probably right. Everything in her high school experience told her he was at least.

"Okay, I'm down. When's the bonfire?" She asked looking for a distraction instead of giving in to her desire to call Quil because of one vague gesture that was barely apologetic.

"In about an hour…" he told her. She was instantly disappointed. What was she going to do for an hour while she needed to focus on nonpainful things and stay away from her phone instead of replaying old voicemails and dwelling on 'what ifs'.

"…But I have to go pick up the beer since apparently I'm the only one old enough to actually buy it and you can come with me if you want." He told her after seeing her bite down on her bottom lip.

"Okay! Let me grab my jacket real quick…. Wait! Did you just say you were old enough to buy the beer!?" Claire stopped in the middle of getting up from her chair to turn and look at him more closely.

He rolled his eyes and said "Don't let baby face fool you, Claire."

"How old are you!?" She asked shocked. If she had to guess she would never have pegged him over nineteen.

"Older than you." He said simply before pulling keys out of his pocket and saying dismissively, "Are you coming or not?"

She didn't respond other than to run up to her room and grab her favorite sweater that was huge and gray and cozy and hung down to her thighs so it always felt like it was hugging her whole body. She noticed her phone still lying on her bed from where she had left it after lunch to avoid having to field Quil's calls all afternoon. She was so tempted to pick it up. She suddenly felt like a junkie that needed her Quil fix. She was rationalizing that her parents might need her or there might have been some emergency that she didn't know about but then she thought about how easy it would be for her parents to call the ranch house or even Tami's phone that she kept on her, if that was the case and realized she was just looking for an excuse to see if Quil had called and left a voicemail so she could hear his voice without talking to him and knew that Luke was right… It wasn't healthy for her to just come running back because Quil sent flowers. He hadn't even truly apologized for the completely degrading phone calls and Claire wasn't going to sit around begging him to, so that they could get back to being lovey-dovey. No, she had too much self-respect for that.

She blew out a breath and walked out the door without ever even touching her phone. She came down the stairs to find Luke waiting out front for her in a leather riding jacket and a helmet in his hand.

"Um…" she said confused when she saw the vintage motorcycle behind him instead of the car she was expecting.

He held the full-face helmet out to her and said, "Here, you look banged up enough, you should wear it."

She bit her lip undecided for a moment before she realized her options were this or staying behind. She nodded and reached for the helmet but Luke took it back and held it opened before he gently squeezed it onto her head and buckled it under her chin. She normally would insist on doing it herself but seeing as she only had one arm she couldn't see how that would work out well.

"Good?" She asked loudly through the helmet as he evaluated her.

"Good!" he said with a smile that made her a little nervous, but she quickly realized Luke just always made her a little nervous because he was so fearless. You never knew what he might do next because he didn't seem to have any inhibitions.

"Alright, let's do this before I break my other arm just by looking at your bike." She told him wanting to be moving and doing instead of sitting and thinking.

"Alright." He agreed as he climbed on the bike and waited for her to climb on behind him. "Put your feet here." He said as he grabbed her left calf around her ripped jeans and positioned her foot before repeating on the other side so that she had to lean against him and wrap her left arm around him to hold her self up.

"Watch for the exhaust pipe, it gets hot and will burn you're leg if you touch it." He warned her.

"Geese Luke, how many girls have you had on the back of your bike?" She teased him as he seemed to run through his standard protocol.

He laughed and said, "Not enough, that's for sure!"

He grabbed onto her thigh tightly and she was about to shove off him thinking he was making a pass until he slammed on the clutch as he kickstarted it and threw her off balance a bit as the engine picked up loudly. Claire clutched herself tighter to him so she wouldn't lose any balance as he let her go to put his hand back on the handle bars.

"You good?" He asked her behind him before he hit the gas.

"Good!" She affirmed. She was actually starting to have fun. She realized that this was the first time she was doing something new and exciting that didn't involve Quil or Bennett probably ever… or at least in a few years….. and it felt good. She didn't want to be a person defined by the man she was with.

She actually squealed a little and clung tighter to Luke as the bike rushed forward when he hit the gas. She was laughing as he pulled out on the drive and then turned smoothly out onto the road.

By the time they pulled into the store parking lot Claire's arm was getting sore from holding herself tightly to Luke but it had been completely worth it. It was the most fun Claire had had in weeks and she was laughing as she put her foot down on her left side to avoid the hot exhaust pipe that was on her right. Luke hopped off and reached for her face to help her pull off the helmet that really require two hands to get on and off. He laughed at the look on her face before he asked,

"What did you think?"

"That was awesome!" She told him excitedly as she pulled her hand through her scrunched-up hair.

"Wow, I definitely didn't peg you as the type of girl that'd be impressed by a bike…" he told her honestly.

"You should really just stop making assumptions about me." She told him as he shrugged and threw the helmet on the seat of the bike before they walked into the store.

Claire noticed immediately how many people seemed to know Luke and say hi to him before giving her a slightly curious look. When they finally got to the beer aisle that was empty except for themselves, Claire immediately started pestering him to find out his real age. He didn't seem too pleased that she had brought it back up and acted like he didn't want to talk about it.

"What's the big deal? It's just your age… why is it such a personal question? I could just look at your ID when they card you anyways." She said not getting why he was so defensive about it.

He seemed to give her an evaluating look for a moment before looking back toward the case of beer he was lifting and said a little defensively, "I'm twenty-three, alright?"

"You're twenty-three? That's it? That's what you're so upset about? Geese, I thought you had to be at least thirty to be that worried about it." She said immediately.

He paused from where he was walking toward the register and said, "You thought I was thirty?"

"Yeah." She admitted, "I mean, why else would you be so defensive?"

"Who do you know that is that old and looks this young?" He asked rhetorically as he shook his head. She didn't respond as he handed over his ID and paid for the case. It wasn't until they were walking out the door that he asked, "You thought that I was that much older than you and it didn't bother you?"

Claire just shrugged and said, "We're just friends, right? I don't have an age restriction on friendship." He looked at her like she was crazy for a moment and then suddenly laughed and said, "You know what, Claire. Maybe we really can be friends after all."

She just shrugged and said, "That was all I ever wanted…"

He didn't respond as they got back to the bike. He pulled the helmet off the seat and handed it to her to hold as he lifted the seat and shoved the case of beer into the compartment underneath it. It was surprisingly large and fit the large case of beer snugly before he shut the seat again and turned to Claire to help her with the helmet before she said,

"Wait!" and quickly took off her sling and handed it to him.

"Free birding it, huh?" He teased as he lifted the seat again and threw it next to the beer, before he helped put the helmet back on her.

This time when she got on the bike behind him she wrapped her casted arm around him too so that she could actually sit close enough for her torso to be pushed up against his back. It made a big difference in her ability to stay on securely and she didn't seem to lose to her balance at all as he kicked on the clutch.

Claire was surprised that after the horrible night she had the night before that she could have as good a time that night as she did. She seemed to get a high from riding on the back of Luke's bike as he took her straight out to the back field about 3 aches from the ranch house where Hank already had the fire going and all the other hands where joking and laughing while roasting hot dogs and s'mores already. There was, of course, some teasing about the fact that Claire was on the back of Luke's bike and that she had gotten a booty-call so dirty that it required day after flowers but she just took Luke's advice and blew it all off like it was no big deal and within ten minutes of arriving no one was talking about it anymore.

Claire had been laughing hysterically at a story that Sarah was telling her about her junior prom date that got braces locked with a freshman girl in the supply closet and she had to drive them to the orthodontist when Claire sent the water she was drinking spewing out of her nose causing everyone to immediately laugh at her reaction instead of the story. She got up after she could breathe again, to grab some napkins to clean herself off with, when she bumped into Luke who had followed her to the food that was set out on the tail gate of Hanks truck. It was about ten-thirty and the night was quiet and still, even as their small group of friends laughed loudly behind them.

"You fit in well here." He commented as he grabbed a bag of chips.

"Yeah… it's nice here." She answered.

"Maybe less complicated?" He asked her significantly.

"Maybe.." she admitted with a shrug. That was why she had come after all.

"You wanna beer?" He asked her casually as he reached for one.

She had never had beer before. In fact, the only alcohol she had really had was the sip of champagne she had drank at the toast at Jared and Kim's belated wedding a few years back, Quil had laughed at the face she had made when she had tasted it. She thought again about how all of her firsts seemed to center back around to Quil or even Bennett and about how she needed to start having firsts on her own.

"Sure." She replied as he popped the top of the can that sprayed up a bit and handed it to her. She took it a little gingerly and took a sip. She immediately made a face.

"That's disgusting." She instantly decided as Luke burst out laughing before turning back toward the fire.

"Where's yours?" She asked confused since he hadn't grabbed one after handing the beer to her.

"Oh, I don't drink… I'm an addict, remember?" He answered casually.

"Well then why…?" She asked confused that he would offer her one if he wasn't getting one.

He shrugged nonchalantly and said, "I wanted to see if you would take it or not."

She rolled her eyes at him and tossed the balled-up napkin in her hand at his face, he laughed and dodged it before he went to sit next to Hank and Claire went back to talk to Sarah.

She did end up drinking the rest of her beer and eventually ended up feeling like everything was completely hilarious as everyone piled into the bed of Hanks truck at the end of the night so that he could take them back to the ranch house. The ground seemed to be wobbling which of course Claire found hysterical as she made her way slowly to the truck. Luke came up behind her and surprised her when he put his hands on her waist holding her steady.

"Op!" She said before laughing at how funny it was that he had surprised her.

"Booty-call girl and you're completely wasted after one beer..." He laughed as he lifted her up onto the back of the truck and slammed the tailgate behind her.

"Drink some water." He told her sternly. She laughed again before giving him a military salute. He chuckled in response before he looked at Sarah and said, "Don't let her fall out!" Just as the truck started moving and he went back to his bike.

"Claire, you keep surprising me!" Sarah told her honestly.

"You know me! Or… I guess you don't!" Claire answered before giggling madly at her own joke.

She had fallen asleep against Sarah before they even made it back to the house and Hank ended up throwing her over his shoulder firemen style and carrying her up to her room where he threw her down on her bed less then gracefully and left, shutting the door behind him and leaving Claire in darkness as she quickly slipped into what felt like the deepest sleep of her life.

* * *

 ***author's note***

 **Hello beautiful readers! I'm so thrilled to be back again and to continue sharing more of my version of Quil and Claire's story! So, as much as I love this site and the ability it has given me to share my story with all of you wonderful people, the thing that I really hate is its terrible user face that doesn't allow me anyway to interact with you when I'm not uploading! I** _always_ **want to be uploading and writing but the truth is I have a very busy life and a family that also sometimes needs my time and attention and unfortunately they have to take priority, even over Claire and Quil (what!? that can't be right, i know!) so... because of all of that I will now have a twitter account directly linked to my profile so that if you are ever waiting for more and wondering where in the crap I am all you have to do is hop over to twitter where I can keep you up to date on when I'm uploading or why I'm not... That way my beautiful followers never have to feel ghosted by me again! So, I had the whole thing all set and ready to go but unfortunately twitter locked it down (it's a long story that involves me listing my story's birthday instead of my own and twitter telling me I wasn't old enough to have an account...huh... i guess that wasn't that long...;P) but I'm already working with twitter support so as soon as it's up I'll leave a link and then seriously, feel free to tweet at me! I LOVE hearing from you! Knowing that there is anyone out in the world that's excited about my characters and is waiting for more of them seriously motivates me more than anything else possibly could! Anyways...y'all are great! Thanks so much for continuing this journey with me all the way into book number 2! I can't promise to have anymore chapters up this weekend but I'm hopeful, so stay posted and hopefully by the time I have chapter four up I'll also have my twitter account up too! 3**

 **xoxo**


	4. Chapter 4

***Author's note* Whew okay sorry, finally, here is chapter 4! Sorry for the annoyingly long wait! I promise to work on getting chapter 5 out much sooner and keep the story line moving without losing too much momentum! But for those times that I don't update and you're wondering when the crap the next chapter will be out,** **/MissedJess?lang=en here is my twitter that is specifically for my FF account! My handle is MissedJess so feel free to follow me or just peak at my account and see why I haven't been posting and when I will be again!**

 **Happy to be back, hope you enjoy!**

 **xoxo**

CHAPTER 4

 **Claire:**

Claire rolled over with a groan when the sound of her phone ringing forcefully yanked out of her sleep. Her head was pounding, and the phone was ringing so loudly. Her stomach twisted, and the feeling of nauseous swept in just as the ringing finally stopped.

She was trying to go back to sleep and ignore the sick feelings plaguing her body just as her phone pinged that she had a new voicemail. She was just going to ignore it before she remembered the events of the last thirty something hours and realized who it would probably be from. She had completely ignored Quil for the past twenty-four hours and she needed to know how he had handled it. She squeezed her eyes shut and felt around on her bed until she found her phone and then pulled it up to her face to squint at.

There were six missed calls from him including the ones she had seen the morning before and three voicemails. She groaned as her stomach turned over and she played the first voicemail.

" _Hey, Claire. Look baby, I know I screwed up last night… but I just need to know how badly, so I can be prepared for how mad you are, so please call me back so we can talk about it!"_

He didn't know how badly he had screwed up? Had he gotten so drunk that he couldn't even remember what had happened?

Claire tried to muse about it around her headache as she quickly skipped to his next message. She could hear the authority in his voice that he usually only used when instructing to members of his pack as he said,

" _Claire, come on. I know you're pissed and I don't know what I said last night but I need to hear from you. Please call me."_ She rolled her eyes as he confirmed that he didn't remembered calling her at all. She heard him sigh and then continue on much softer with, _"I love you, baby. Please just call me back."_

She sighed as she realized how much pain he must be in from not hearing from her. She was still unbelievably upset and frustrated with him, but he should at least know why she was. She reasoned about it as she skipped to the last message,

"' _Kay that's it, Claire. You don't want to talk that's fine but I'm booking a flight. Then you can just ignore me in person until you're ready to work this out."_

She groaned in frustration as she checked the time of his last call from ten minutes earlier. She knew he wasn't bluffing and that if she didn't call him back he would indeed show up to find her. He wasn't going to let her go like he had last time and we would fly out there just to hang around while she gave him the cold shoulder if he had to.

She closed her eyes shut tightly as she redialed him and waited for him to pick up even while knowing she still didn't want to speak with him yet. It rang twice and then,

"Claire!" he said sounding both frustrated and relieved.

"Don't book a flight." She answered back irritably as a greeting.

"Oh, I'm definitely booking a flight." He said confidently. "We need to have an actual conversation and work this out."

"I agree…. But, don't book a flight." She said not bothering to put in the effort to hide any irritability while she was feeling so hung over.

"Claire, you wouldn't even _talk_ to me until I said I was coming!" He insisted, and she could hear typing in the background like he was indeed booking a flight that second.

"I've been busy, and you aren't really the number one person I want to talk to right now…" she replied defensively.

"Claire…" he started, "if you won't take my calls then I should definitely be there."

She groaned loudly and rolled over onto her elbows and knees feeling like she wanted to puke as she looked for water on her nightstand and came up empty.

"You're serious? You're just not going to take no for an answer?" she asked making sure of his intentions.

"Of course, I'm serious. I'm coming Claire. I'm not leaving things like this until you get back." he insisted.

She sat up slowly on her knees before she sighed in defeat and said, "Alright, fine… Then you stay there. I'll come home."

It was silent for a second while she felt Quil's shock and surprise. She did not love the idea of going home so soon after she had started working there but she knew she liked the idea of Quil showing up to follow her around while securing her booty-call reputation even less.

"Really?" he asked in a small voice.

"Yeah. I'll call my dad after we're done and have him book a flight for Monday. Just _don't_ come here." She said lifelessly as she leaned against the wall and started breathing through her mouth even though it tasted terrible.

"…. Claire…." Quil said hesitantly, clearly undecided about the situation.

She hated the thought that he had enough control over her to force her home less than a week after she had gotten there but she knew he would really come to her if she didn't come back to him and she didn't want to explain his presence or his relationship with her to anyone. Not to Tami, who had met Quil at least ten years ago and would have some serious questions as to the current nature of their relationship… not to Luke, who would think she was weak for running back to Quil when he showed up… not to Sarah, who would think she really was a dirty-girl and that Quil couldn't wait until she got home but had to hop on a flight and come to her for a real booty-call… not to Hank, who would probably assume she had a stalker…. Not to anyone…. She would rather just go home.

"Look, I'm not going to-" Claire had started to say as reasonably as she could currently manage before her stomach heaved and she quickly had to change to an urgent "I'm going to puke!"

She heard Quil say something in confusion, but she had already dropped her phone on the bed. She barely made it to the bathroom sink before she started violently vomiting all the beer back up.

If it had been disgusting going down it was twice as bad coming back up. It stunk and burned at her mouth and throat, which all just made her want to keep puking as she used her left arm to try to pin back all her hair and keep it out of the line of fire. She felt shaky and weak and like her head might burst by the time she finished. She quickly washed the sink out and then brushed her teeth vigorously to try to get the taste out of her mouth before she went back to her room.

She didn't want to get back on the phone with Quil who was waiting for her… she just wanted to pull off her uncomfortable skinny jeans and go back to bed… but she knew if she did that, he would probably end up showing up before she had even woken up again.

"Quil?" she asked weakly as she sat back down on the edge of the bed.

"I'm booking a flight right now. If something is wrong with you I need to be there." He said concerned.

"Nothing is wrong with me…." _Except this stupid hang over…_ she thought to herself. "..I'm just upset is all."

"…What?... No, you just cry when you get pissed off, you've never puked before." He said quickly.

"Well there's a first time for everything, isn't there!?" she snapped, annoyed and clearly irritable from her hang over.

"Claire… tell me what's wrong or I swear I'm booking the first flight out!" Quil insisted.

"I already told you I'm coming home. Just chill out. You aren't really in any position to be making demands here, Quil." She snapped quickly.

He was quiet for a moment as she heard him blow out a large, agitated breath before he said,

"Just tell me what's wrong and….. you don't need to come home…."

She was quiet for a minute as she considered what he was asking.

"And you won't come out here?" she clarified while agreeing to his terms.

"Not if you're willing to work it out over the phone…." He said a little defeated.

"Fine." She snapped. "But that's easier said then done. It's going to take some time, Quil. I'm pretty pissed still."

"Okay, that's fine. We can take the time to make it work." He said reasonably before he asked more insistently, "Now what's wrong? Are you sick?"

She sighed since she had zero desire to tell him what was actually wrong with her, but she had just promised to so…

"No. I'm not sick…. There's really nothing wrong with me… in fact I get my stupid full cast off on Monday." She hemmed hoping she might be able to distract him since she knew she was too upset and hung over to pull off that she was fine believably.

"Then why would you puke?" he immediately asked obviously ignoring her attempt to distract him.

"….. Eh…" she squeaked without actually getting anything out.

"Claire!?" he insisted getting agitated in the way he only ever did if he was worried there was something wrong with her.

"I got drunk last night! That's why I threw up!" she quickly blurted out irritably.

There was shocked silence on his end for a small second before he said loudly enough that she immediately pulled the phone away from her ear and pounding head,

"You're _hung over_!?"

"Maybe…." She admitted.

"You got drunk last night!?" he said, instantly upset.

"Yes… I already said that." She replied, frustrated with his hypocritical attitude.

"Off of what!?"

He seemed like he couldn't even fathom the idea of a hung-over Claire.

"Well, _I'm_ not one for shots of tequila!" She snapped. "But I had some beer last night and it didn't take very well."

"What the hell, Claire? Who gave you beer!?" he said like she was a child who couldn't be trusted with sharp objects or something.

"Why would that even matter!?" she asked more annoyed than ever.

"Um… because you're sixteen and I want to know who is giving you beer that you aren't even old enough to drink!" he snapped back.

"Oh, so I'm not old enough to drink but I'm old enough to throw on the bed and-" and she repeated back to him some of the more memorable phrases he had said to her the night before.

She would normally be much more diplomatic about a situation of this nature, but she was way too hung over and upset to find even a shred of graceful diplomacy at this point.

She could feel his shocked silence again for a second before he replied, "Um… excuse me?" clearly offended at what she had just suggested.

"What? You don't remember saying that to me when _you_ were drunk!? Or do you just not remember Tina offering to have a three-way since she was so willing to share you and apparently, _I'm_ her type too? What do you think, Quil? Are you into that or just into the idea of…" and she repeated back the last thing she had clearly heard him say before she had hung up on him the night before.

He was completely silent for a moment before he said in obvious disbelieve, " _I_ said that?"

"No Quil! I thought it would be fun to make it up myself after you kept me up all night with drunken phone calls from the sorority girl you were partying with even _if_ she wasn't nearly as hot as me!" she snapped sarcastically.

" _I_ said _ALL_ of that?" he asked still disbelievingly.

"Yes Quil!" she insisted as she started to tear up over it. She felt like she couldn't contain her hurt anymore as her tears spilled over and she suddenly couldn't stop herself before she blurted out, "I told you I loved you! I told you I loved you and you called me drunk and said _all_ of that!"

"Oh, Claire! I….." he said clearly at a complete loss of what to say when he was so shocked he had done it to begin with. "…. I'm _SO_ sorry…. I can't believe I would do something like that…."

She was crying in earnest as she said, "Yeah, neither could I. But you _did_!"

"…..Claire…. how can I fix this? How can I make it right? I'll do whatever you say, just tell me how to fix it…" he begged her.

She just cried, wishing she had the answer to give him as to how he could undo the hurt feelings he had caused her.

"…I need some time…" she finally said after she had pulled herself back together a bit. "…just let me stay here and work through this…" she pleaded with him.

He seemed pained and upset but he said, "…Okay. If that's what you need."

She didn't say anything as she pinned the phone between her shoulder and ear and used her hand to rub at her head which felt even worse for crying.

"Claire… I'm so sorry!" he said softly and painfully.

He sounded like he was crying now too. She tried to remember the last time she had even seen Quil cry. She thought it had to have been at his grandfather's funeral three years ago. She had been a sobbing mess with her hand in his in front of the open casket, as he held onto her and silent tears fell down his face…. He seemed like he was crying now though.

"I just…. I just don't understand where it came from!" she stuttered still upset. "I thought you were happy with where our relationship was at!"

"I was!... I am!" he instantly said in a thick voice as if he was speaking through his tears.

"I mean is _sex_ all you want from me!?" she asked, finally expressing the fears that had been eating at her since she had last spoken to him.

"NO! Of course, not Claire! I _love_ you!" he insisted, and she could hear that catch in his voice that made it clear how choked up he was.

"Then why would you say that!?" she cried immediately as the tears started falling down her face again.

"It's _because_ I love you! I want to be with you like that because I'm in love with you! That's why I'm so attracted to you! I never should have said any of that. It's not how I really think! They were just thoughts I had one time as a reaction to seeing you that day … but I forced myself not to think about them... or to think about you that way… it just all came out when I got drunk, but I would _never_ expect that from you, _ever_! I don't _need_ sex, Claire. But I _need_ you! …. I'm so sorry Claire. _So_ sorry! I love you so much and I hate myself right now for ever hurting you like that…"

Claire let his words sink in for a moment as she wiped at her tears. She suddenly marveled at how he could have possibly known the perfect thing to say to at least make her feel better about it all if not actually able to fix it. She was still so upset that she was shaking but she had to admit that that was a pretty good speech… she had even gotten a little tingly when he said he needed her.

"…Really?... Are you sure?" she asked him hesitantly.

"YES! I'm one hundred percent sure. You've always been the only thing I've ever needed and now that I'm in love with you…. I feel like…. Like I can't even breath if you aren't around, Claire!" he said sincerely.

She sniffed as she nodded her head and finally said,

"….Okay."

"Okay? … So, we're okay?" he asked her clearly concerned.

She hesitated for a second before she said, "Well… We're not great right now…. But we're _okay_ …."

He blew out a giant sigh of relief. "Are you sure you don't want me to come?" he asked insistently.

"I'm sure…. I'm kind of now known as the booty-call girl around here, so you showing up wouldn't help that..." She explained while wondering where her aunt might keep some aspirin. "Plus, some people around here might think you're the world's biggest jerk for calling me drunk and then sending flowers the next day with the world's lamest apology attached to it…"

" _Oh_ …." Quil said as though he suddenly just realized the context in which his apology flowers might have been received. "Yeah, that definitely wasn't my best apology was it…."

Claire laughed for the first time and noticed how it made her head pound,

"No, definitely not."

"So… people know?" he asked, sounding concerned.

"People know." She affirmed seriously.

"…. Well that sucks…" he said.

"Yes, it does…" she agreed with her eyes shut tightly closed.

"Well… at least people know you have a boyfriend…" he reasoned.

She was stunned for a second before she could respond.

"… Is that what you are now? My boyfriend?" she asked a little skeptically.

"I'd really like to be Claire. If you'll let me… I know I screwed things up but…. I love you…. I don't want you free to date other guys… or anyone thinking you're open to late night dirty phone calls from _random_ people…" he told her honestly.

She took a full breath in before releasing it as she considered what getting into a real relationship with him would mean and if she was really willing to commit like that yet.

She thought about the last thirty-six hours… she knew that his drunk, dirty call had been a mistake and that it was an issue to work through but not a deal breaker…. There was no question for her that he truly loved her, and she couldn't deny that she was falling in love with him… if she could bring herself to admit it she knew she was _already_ crazy in love with him. She felt like he had blindsided her by stealing her heart out from under her…. and she knew that she was at least starting to get over Bennett if not completely there yet…

"Okay." She finally agreed, after taking the time to have such an extensive internal debate. "You can be my boyfriend."

She thought she could almost hear him smiling before he said casually, "Okay, that's all I'm asking for."

"But no more drunk, booty-calls, right?" she insisted.

She knew it wasn't really necessary since he had never even called her drunk before, but she felt that since they were officially entering a relationship she needed to set a precedence that what he had done the night before was not acceptable, repeatable behavior.

"Of course, not! Claire, it will _never_ happen again!" he insisted as Claire heard a knock on the partially opened door and looked up to see Luke pushing her door open with a paper bag that smelled like fast food and somehow simultaneously made her stomach turn and her mouth drool. She looked up and smiled at him since he had clearly brought her some food as she held up a finger to indicate that she would need a second before she gestured for him to come into the room.

"Okay… well, I actually need to go now, a friend just brought me some food." She said into the phone while directing an appreciative smile at Luke.

"Okay… you'll call me tonight?" he asked like he might be unsure.

"Yes, I'll call you tonight." She reassured just a little less enthusiastically then she usually would.

She was still marveling at the turn of events the conversation had managed to take. Twelve minutes ago, she had just promised to get on a plane and fly home…. Then she had said she just needed some time and space…. now apparently, she was his girlfriend. She had no idea how he had managed to do that but one thing she was certain of; he was the only person capable of doing that to her.

"Drink a lot of water and take something for your headache." He told her seriously.

She chuckled and said, "It sounds like you have some experience with this whole hang over thing…"

He chuckled too and said, "Alright, well I really do love you Claire."

"I know." She reaffirmed. "I love you too."

He seemed to sigh with relieve when she said it before he said goodbye and they hung up.

She looked up to see Luke standing in front of where she was sitting on her bed watching her.

"You okay?" he asked warily.

"Yup. I've only puked once so far…" she told him while reaching for the bag in his hand and gesturing to the bed next to her for him to sit down. "What are you doing here? Isn't it Saturday?"

He nodded as he sat down and pulled out a breakfast burrito that immediately made her want to puke again.

"Eat this. The protein will help…" he said with understanding as he handed it to her. She nodded as she opened it and started to slowly eat it as he continued. "Yeah, I had to come in to shoe Layla since we didn't get to her yesterday during our naptime and all."

Claire nodded. "I'll help you. I just need to shower first."

"Please do. You smell like beer and puke!" he said, and she shoved at him with her left arm as she scoffed out a laugh.

"Here." He said handing her a water bottle and a bottle of aspirin.

"Wow, thanks! Aren't you accommodating this morning? Thanks for the food by the way!" she noted, taking it from him and immediately taking two pills and drinking half the water.

"Well… the truth is, I feel a little responsible you got drunk last night…" he admitted.

"Why?" she asked confused while he pulled out a taco and started eating it as he leaned back against the wall.

"Because you're sixteen and I gave it to you… and then practically dared you to drink it…" he explained.

Claire rolled her eyes. "You didn't force me to do anything… nobody does… besides it was literally just one beer. Who knew I'd be such a lightweight?"

"Well we probably should have guessed from the size of you but yeah your alcohol tolerance was pretty pitiful!" he told her before she shoved at him again, but said in agreement,

"Seriously though…."

"So…. You okay?" he asked while staring at her like he was evaluating her.

"Yeah, I'm fine… why?" she said sincerely.

"Because you have makeup all over your face like you've been crying your eyes out." He explained.

She gasped as she wiped at her face since she had completely forgotten she had never taken her makeup off from the night before and that she must look rough since she had been crying quite a bit while she spoke with Quil.

"Crap! I forgot I was wearing makeup! Aw well, I'm just about to shower anyways." She admitted while giving up on cleaning it away and decided to focus on eating the burrito before she threw it back up.

"So… who was on the phone?" he not so subtly segued into her business.

She shrugged and looked away.

"My….. Boyfriend." She admitted for the first time after a moment of hesitation.

"I thought you guys had to breakup?" he asked confused as he pulled out some tater tots and held them out to share with her. "That he dumped you for your friend… did he ditch her to come back to you?"

Claire shook her head before she explained. "Not Bennett. Someone else."

She looked over at him when he was silent instead of responding. Once she looked at him he said darkly,

"You're kidding me. You got together with booty-call doucheface? I'm the king of bad decisions and I can tell you right now that is a terrible idea."

She knew exactly how weak she must look to him, but she shook her head and tried to explain,

"It's not like that! He loves me…. Really!" she insisted when he scoffed at her. "You don't understand… you think he's just saying what I want to hear because he's trying to get in my pants but it's really not like that!"

He rolled his eyes at her before he turned to face her head on and said, "Then what _is_ it like?"

She was frozen for a second as she tried to think of how to adequately explain Quil before she said,

"I've known him since I was two…." Luke seemed surprised by that unexpected fact. "He's been my best friend for years… and after all this crap went down with Bennett he was there for me… he's always been there for me… and then we just sort of took this friend love we've always had and found that it had grown into more… a lot more…." She explained sincerely.

"Then what about the booty-call?" he asked pointing out the obvious flaw in her logic.

She shrugged, "That was just stupid but not intentional."

He scoffed at her and she said,

"Are you honestly telling me that you've never said something you shouldn't have when you were drunk or high?"

He shrugged like he couldn't argue with her before finally asking.

"You're sure about this?"

"Yes." She said with certainty.

"Well then, I've expressed my concern as a friend and the rest is on you." He said simply.

She smiled, "I will accept full responsibility for that!"

"Good! Now come on, I'll wrap your arm again, so you can shower. Layla seems skittish today and I think I'm going to need you to keep her calm." He said quickly, like he was satisfied with the conversation as he stood up and helped her up off the bed.

* * *

Claire came into the barn thirty minutes later with a clean face, wet hair and feeling better for having eaten and taken the aspirin. She found Luke struggling with an indeed skittish Layla. He couldn't seem to get her to hold still so that he could even get a good grip on her foot.

"Whoa girl! Shh… Hold still now!" Claire said quickly as she ran up to Layla and grabbed her head with her left hand, so she was cradling it into her chest.

Layla chuffed, agitated for a moment before she responded to Claire and calmed down, stepping forward to be closer to her and snuggle against her.

"There you are! Took you long enough." said a slightly irritated Luke.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got here as soon as I could." She responded quickly thinking about how she hadn't even taken the time to blow dry her wet hair hanging down her back or apply any makeup to her splotchy hangover face.

Luke just rolled his eyes and got to work quickly on shoeing Layla now that she was holding still for Claire.

They worked together for about twenty minutes while Luke worked quickly, and Claire tried to control the twisting in her stomach as she soothed Layla and kept her calm. When she got to the point of wanting to puke again she decided to look for a distraction to try to stop from thinking about it so much.

"So…. I like your motorcycle…" she said randomly.

"Um.. thanks." He answered.

 _So much for a distraction._ Claire thought to herself.

"So, what's the story there? Did you just wake up one morning and decide that a car with four wheels was just not exciting enough for you?" She asked in another attempt to engage him.

"Not really…. I sort of inherited it actually." He admitted.

"Inherited it? From who?" Claire asked confused.

"Uh, my best friend's parents gave it to me after he overdosed." Luke explained causally, causing Claire to briefly freeze up in shock.

"Your best friend overdosed?" Claire asked shocked and a little scared of the idea.

"Yeah." He admitted. "I don't really tell people about it… but yeah he overdosed that first time I was in rehab… probably why it didn't take…" he mused causally.

"Luke… I'm so sorry. That's terrible." She said looking around Layla to look at him.

He shrugged and said, "Yeah, it sucked…" he suddenly froze and looked up at her. "You're different though, right?"

"Different how?" She asked confused.

"You'll be okay… you've got your shit together. You're going to keep doing your peppy cheerleading stuff and graduate high school and everything…" he said.

"Um... yeah… that's the plan…" she responded, confused.

"I'm just cursed… being my friend doesn't usually end well." He explained.

"What do you mean?" She asked more confused than ever.

"All my friends… most of them don't make it to eighteen… that's the curse… they all overdose before they actually ever grow up." He said seriously.

Claire was shocked and stunned but could tell he seriously believed in this apparent curse.

"Luke. I'm going to make it to eighteen!" She said confidently. "That's awful about all of your friends, really, but it's not going to happen to me."

He just sighed and nodded his head silently. "That's why I need to stick with you… you'll keep me clean." He mused.

Claire nodded and said, "That's true… life is better when you aren't high."

Luke stood up as he finished the last shoe and muttered softly, "Well I don't know about that…."

"You don't think life is better when you're clean?" Claire asked him sincerely.

"Oh, I didn't say that… yeah, overall life is better… but being high wasn't too bad either." He teased with a wink.

She scoffed at him and rolled her eyes.

He left for the weekend after that and Claire spent the rest of her Saturday relaxing with Tami while doing her best to hide all her hang over symptoms. She thought she did alright except when Tami would ask her a question unexpectedly and her loud voice would cause Claire to flinch. She was worried when the third time this happened Tami's eyes narrowed in on her suspiciously, but Claire did her best to look normal as she immediately put all of her attention on Sarah's toenails she was painting left handed. Tami went back to her magazine after a second and didn't say anything about it, so Claire figured she must be in the clear.

* * *

That evening Claire took as long as possible getting ready for bed while she showered and brushed and then blow dried her hair and then in-depthly flossed her teeth before doing her regular routine. There was a large part of her that was excited to speak with Quil. Life was always better for Claire the more that Quil was involved, but there was also a part of her that felt incredibly nervous that she didn't know how it would go.

She wasn't angry at him anymore, but she wasn't completely over what had happened yet either. She also wasn't sure how this call might be different from every other one of their phone calls since the nature of their relationship had now completely changed and that made her more than a little nervous.

Finally, at eleven thirty (she had started getting ready for bed at ten) she curled up into the deep corner or her mattress where the two walls met and grabbed the extra blanket that was always folded at the foot of the bed. She used it as protection as she pulled it all the way to her chest and used her casted arm to pin it there. She blew out a nervous breath before she hit call on Quil's contact.

It rang one time before,

"Hey… I was starting to think you had forgotten about me."

Claire took in a breath quickly before saying reasonably,

"Have I ever forgotten about you before?"

"I guess not." He reasoned.

It was silent for a moment while she didn't know quite how to respond or what to say. She didn't think she had ever felt so awkward talking to Quil before.

"So, how are you feeling?" He asked casually, seeming completely unfazed by their current tension.

"Better!" She said immediately grabbing onto the topic. "I drank some water, took some aspirin… Luke made sure that I had a breakfast burrito for the protein… I think Tami might have been a little suspicious this afternoon, but I tried to keep things as normal as possible, at least I didn't throw up again."

"Good…" Quil said casually before adding, "Who's Luke?"

"Luke? He's another hand here. We're friends now." Claire said quickly, surprised she hadn't mentioned him before.

"Is he the one you got drunk with?" Quil asked.

Claire laughed a little and said,

"Oh no, he doesn't drink anymore. I think Sarah was the closest to being as wasted as I was, but the truth is a normal person would have to drink at least three times as much as I did to actually get to that point."

"What do you mean, doesn't drink ' _anymore'_?" Quil seemed to probe while ignoring the quip about how little alcohol she had drunk.

"Um… Luke is an addict…. A _recovered_ addicted." She clarified while scratching at her head and yanking her hand through her hair anxiously.

"You're friends with an addict?" Quil asked concerned.

"…. Recovered addicted…" Claire corrected, ".. Yeah, I guess so. I mean I don't think of him as 'an addict' like it's a defining characteristic… he's just Luke.." she tried to explain.

"So, you aren't worried about spending a lot of time around a potentially volatile drug addict?" Quil questioned.

"Quil…" Claire said reasonably.

"What? It's a fair question…" Quil reasoned against her.

"No… It's really not." She replied.

"How is that not fair?" Quil asked a little defensively.

"You can't box people in like that. Being a recovered addict is just one part of who Luke is…. It'd be like defining you by your age… like if someone asked me _aren't you worried about dating an older guy who is potentially perverted?_ It's all about perspective… your age doesn't define who you are, it's just one of the the _many_ things that are a part of you." Claire gently chastised him.

Quil was silent for a second while he blew out a breath. He sounded resigned when he said,

"'Kay let's talk about it…"

"What do you mean?" Claire asked confused.

She didn't feel that it was her place to discuss whatever past challenges Luke was overcoming.

"Our age difference… does it bother you?" Quil asked sounding a little strained.

"Oh!" Claire said surprised. She sat up a little straighter, preparing for a serious conversation. "No. Our age difference has never bothered me before."

"Yeah, but we've also never been together before." He said reasonably.

"…That's true…" she mused. "But I guess if it really bothered me than we _wouldn't_ be together… it's like I said, you aren't Quil-the-thirty-one-year-old to me, you're just _my_ Quil."

"…Yeah… I don't think that'll hold up in court." Quil replied quickly.

"…Well… then we won't tell people. No one has ever been able to understand our relationship just from the outside anyways so… we'll just keep it quiet until I look closer to your age." She reasoned.

"That won't bother you? Living a lie?" He asked skeptically.

"We won't be living a lie…. All the people close to us will know. My family, the pack, they'll all know. Maybe I just don't tell the girls on my squad who are all just busy looking for dates for prom anyways.. and maybe you don't come to parent night at my school anymore…" she teased lightly, trying to make the conversation feel less intense.

"I don't know, Claire…" Quil said hesitantly.

"Okay, let's talk about this…" Claire repeated back. "Does our age difference bother _you_?"

It was silent on the other end for a moment before Claire reminded him,

"…Quil, I can't hear shrugs…."

He chuckled softly before he said with an exhale, "Yeah, I guess it kind of does…."

Claire immediately tensed as she squeezed the blanket tighter to her chest.

"…Okay…. Is it something I did..?" She asked a little nervously thinking that while she never felt a difference in their maturity he must have noticed one.

"No, Claire! It's not you! …. It's your age…. You're still so young…" he said seriously.

Claire nodded her head before she said slightly exasperated, "Aren't you the one who said I shouldn't give you a hard time about your age since it's not something you can control!?"

"…. Right…" he said hesitantly. ".. It's just that you're only sixteen! If sixteen-year-old me saw me at thirty-one dating a sixteen-year-old I would have kicked my ass!"

Claire processed what he was saying for a minute before asking, "Is that how I seem to you? Like just any other sixteen-year-old?"

He seemed to think for a moment before saying, "No. You're way more mature than me most days…"

"Okay, so then why are you holding it against me?" She asked sincerely.

"I'm not holding it against you, Claire. It's just…" he faded off uncertainly.

She made sure to speak in her softest tone, knowing that he was clearly feeling insecure about this and that this was the best way to get him to open up about it, before she asked,

"Just what?"

"I just don't want you to miss experiences you _should_ be having at this age because we're acting like you're older than you are…." He admitted softly.

"You remember the other day when you were talking about how I can't take responsibility for your choices… that I need to let you own them?" She said immediately.

"Claire…" he argued clearly already knowing what she was getting at.

"Quil, has it occurred to you that I might not _want_ to have the experiences most people my age are having?" She asked him without hesitation.

"How do you know you don't want them if you never have the chance to have them to start with?" He immediately argued.

"Because I _have_ had them. I had four solid months of having quintessentials teenaged experiences and you know what I took away from all of it?" She asked him sincerely.

"What?" He asked a little skeptically.

"One… being a teenager is completely overrated…. High school sucks and we both know it…. And two… I can't live my life without you… I had to actively try to not think about you as much as possible for four solid months… and don't think Bennett didn't notice either! I was probably a pretty terrible girlfriend to him since every time there was a moment quiet enough to actually think I was just focused on not thinking about you! So, I _know_ that that _isn't_ what I want… I just want you!" She said surprised she had to admit it to him.

"I don't know, Claire…" he said still unsure.

"Do you remember the first time you kissed me?" She asked immediately. "Do you remember what you said?"

She paused for a second before continuing without giving him the chance to respond.

"You said, that there would be a time when I wasn't hurting so much over Bennett and that we belonged together and then you showed me how much we belonged together with that kiss! Do you remember?" She said insistently. Just remembering it was giving her a feeling of absolute certainty.

He chuckled a little and said confidently, "Yeah, I do."

She pictured him running a hand through his hair as he smiled.

"And at the airport? What you said, and the way you kissed me?" She continued.

"I remember." He said happily.

"Okay. So, Quil Ateara the fifth… that, that is why we are supposed to be together. So just hold onto that until I'm not so young that it bothers you anymore, got it!?" She said forcefully while using his own words against him.

He laughed a little before he just said simply in response,

"I love you."

"I know... that's why we belong together, remember!?" She said smart-alecy before she continued sweetly, "But I love you too!"

He laughed at her response.

"I miss you." He sighed.

"I miss you too, Baby." She told him honestly while trying the endearment out for the first time. She suddenly loved the way it fit him.

He blew out a large breath, clearly struggling with her being away from him. Claire bit her lip just thinking about it. Maybe she _should_ get a flight home on Monday, she mused, but then she thought about having to go back to school and about leaving the ranch she had just started working at and realized she wasn't ready to come back yet.

"So, you never told me about the bonfire? How'd it go? Did Paul get drunk and start rambling about the good ol' days again?" She asked trying to take his mind off of it.

He chuckled before responding, "No, not this time… it was pretty cool telling the heritage stories this time though... it's been so long since we've had a new wolf to experience them." He laughed again as he thought about it and said, "You should have seen Bennett's eyes! I've never seen someone in such shock and awe!"

Claire chuckled and started asking him who had been at the bonfire. They talked more about their last couple days until Claire yawned hugely, exhausted since she hadn't gotten much rest the last couple of nights. To her surprise, Quil yawned hugely too.

"You seem as tired as I am.." she noted.

"I didn't sleep much last night…" he said honestly.

"How come?" She asked surprised. Quil usually slept like the dead once he zonked out.

"Because of you!" He laughed. "How could I sleep when you were avoiding me and I didn't know why?"

Claire shrugged her shoulders up and down as she said, "Eh… you needed to sweat it out a bit."

He chuckled in response and said emphatically, "Oh, I definitely did!"

Claire smiled as he yawned hugely again and then said, "Alright, Nino. Well we better get some sleep."

"Seriously!?" She asked in disbelief.

"What?" He asked confused.

"We're actually dating now, and you still see me as a 'Nino'?" She said exasperated.

He laughed in response. "Sorry, babe. I think you'll just always be my little Nino."

"That's so _weird,_ Quil!" She insisted.

"I know, but whatcha gonna do?" He said clearly unfazed.

She rolled her eyes and said, "Alright, goodnight, Quil. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

He yawned hugely again before he said, "I love you, Nino."

"Ugh!" She groaned, "Don't say it like that!" She said insistently, suddenly thinking it sounded more like her dad had just told her he loved her than that her boyfriend… her soulmate… had.

He laughed at her reaction before asking,

"How should I say it then, _'I love you, Claire-bear.'_?"

Claire shuddered a little, thinking that was even worse since Claire-bear was what her family always called her.

"Mm-nmm. Say, 'I love you _Baby.'_ " She replied thinking about how much she loved it when he called her that.

"I love you Baby." He immediately said sincerely.

"I love _you_ Baby." She said back.

He chuckled and said, "You're right, that's way better."

"See!" She laughed.

And they kept laughing and talking as Claire slid down her bed and turned off her light.

* * *

 ***Author's Note* So what did you think? Claire and Quil are officially together now! Took em long enough, right? ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

 **Quil** :

 _Man, I wish she was here._ Quil thought to himself as he tried to physically absorb the sound of Claire's soft laughter. He was still on the phone with her even though they had tried to say goodbye to each other at least an hour earlier. He closed his eyes, so he could imagine that she was lying on her ribs and hip on the left side of the bed hundreds of miles away while he laid on his back on his side of the bed. If he closed his eyes (like he was doing) and lost himself enough in the sound of her he could imagine she was actually there in bed next to him.

"I wish I could have seen Bennett's reactions." She said softly in response to Quil telling her how amazed he had been by the entire bonfire experience.

"It was pretty memorable." Quil admitted.

Claire took a soft breath and asked, "So, how was Macy? Leah mentioned she might be…. Having a hard time fitting in…."

Quil scoffed a laugh at the delicate way Claire had phrased it. "That's true… Yeah, I don't know…. It didn't seem to go great for her but I'm probably not the best judge, our situation probably makes me too biased… lots of people talked to her…. just no one seemed to want to talk to her for long…"

"Yeah, well I can't blame anyone there." Claire admitted tiredly.

"Seriously." Quil agreed. "Every time I would introduce her as Bennett's imprint, she would say 'Actually, I'm his _girlfriend_.', like girlfriend somehow trumps imprint or something."

To his surprise Claire laughed.

"What?" He asked not getting the joke.

"Some of the girls on our freshman squad started calling Macy ' _Actually'_ behind her back because she would correct people so often." Claire explained.

"That seems about right." Quil mused. "But what's with the whole 'I'm his girlfriend' thing?" Quil asked knowing Claire would be able to interpret teen-girl behavior.

She sighed. "Honestly, It's probably about me… I was worried she would do this…. It's part of the reason I left."

"What do you mean?" He asked confused.

"Macy sees everything as a competition and now she wants to prove she's beaten me. _I_ was Bennett's girlfriend and now she want's everyone to know _she_ is." Claire explained.

"But wouldn't being his _imprint_ , make her much more significant than his _girlfriend_?" Quil asked completely confused by this girl's mentality.

"You would think so, but to Macy, probably not." She answered.

"Why not?" He asked still not getting it.

"Because she's making it about me." She reminded him.

"…. I still don't get it." He admitted.

"She knows everything about the wolves now, right?" Claire asked trying to explain again.

"Yeah, as far as I know." Quil answered.

"So, she knows that you had already imprinted on me when I was with Bennett. She doesn't view it as a commitment because as far as she knows we've never been together and still aren't, so…. She's trying to prove she has as much- no, _more_ commitment from him than I ever did." She said simply and quietly, obviously too tired to speak at a normal volume.

"…. But why!?" Quil asked mystified. "Why does she care so much about trying to out-do you?"

"Mmmmm" Claire seemed to muse softly for a moment thinking about it. "She's probably trying to overcompensate for the fact that while she was always crazy about Bennett, he didn't choose to be with her. He _chose_ to be with _me_. That's got to sting knowing somewhere in the back of your mind that the person you love never really _wanted_ to be with you. That they just had the choice taken from them and ended up stuck with you."

"Imprinting's a bitch." Quil chuckled a little to himself remembering,

"What?" Claire asked confused.

"It's what Bennett said to me when I explained how powerful imprinting really was." He explained.

"That sounds about right… what did you say?" She asked repeating back the phrase he had used while still speaking softly like she was drifting off.

"Mmmm…" he said suddenly hesitating. He had after all made Bennett promise that he wouldn't tell Claire what he had said in that moment.

"What?" She asked surprised.

"I told him it kind of was…." He admitted.

She was silent for a second before she responded sounding a little more awake,

"Ouch."

"No, Claire! I didn't mean that I wouldn't have chosen you if I had the chance! I just meant… just those four months last fall…. You had such a painful hold on me… and there was _nothing_ I could do about it…. That was the bitch part about it." He tried to explain.

"The not having a choice part though… that can't be great either." She mused reasonably.

"Not for me. What do you need a choice for if you already have exactly what you would want?" Quil responded confidently.

Claire surprised him when she laughed.

"What?" He asked confused.

"You would _not_ have chosen this." Claire said skeptically while continuing to laugh at him.

"I one hundred percent would have chosen this…. Chosen you!" Quil said insistently, suddenly thinking she must not have a clue of how in love with her he was.

"You would have actually chosen to imprint on a toddler and then spend the next decade and a half waiting?" She argued still skeptically.

He rolled his eyes and said. "Claire, I've told you… I wasn't waiting for you! I was happy… I've always been happy with you. I loved your childhood and getting to be a part of it. You've given me so many amazing memories…. So much more time than any of the other wolves got with their imprints …. I don't know how else to explain how I feel about it other than to say… I feel like… like … like you gave me a gift." He told her sincerely while struggling to express himself while willing her to believe him.

"And in all that time, you never wanted to have a relationship with someone who wasn't a child, that could offer you all the things I couldn't?" She asked dubiously.

"… Not until about three weeks ago… that was the first time I ever felt like I needed to wait for you to grow up for you to be what I needed you to be….. clearly I'm not very patient…." Quil responded honestly.

Claire laughed a little. "You made it about three weeks…" she mused fairly.

"Did I though? How many times did I kiss you… or at least _try_ to kiss you between then and now?" He laughed.

"Well not all of that was your fault." She said reasonably.

"Well I don't know about that…" he mused thinking it was cute that she was trying to take blame again.

"I was feeling it too, remember? I was just too confused and messed up over my breakup to see it clearly."

Quil laughed before he said, "Claire, I would really love to believe that you were feeling as attracted to me as I was to you but I'm pretty positive that's impossible." _The room would have spontaneously combusted_ he thought as an afterthought.

"I think you're underestimating things…" she replied after a yawn.

"Like what?" He asked skeptically.

"Well for starters… who was the one to give the other the hickeys that caused so much trouble?" She pointed out.

"How did you know they caused any trouble?" Quil asked surprised.

"Leah mentioned it." She said simply.

Quil rolled his eyes, leave it to Leah to cause a problem like that.

"Well I don't think they caused any actual _trouble_ , per say." He mused hoping she wasn't upset by it.

"Regardless of the results…. Who was the giver and who was the receiver?" She argued.

"You may have had something to do with that…" he admitted while smiling to himself as he remembered actually receiving said hickeys.

"Yup. And don't forget the tattoo incident…" she continued to debate.

"What tattoo incident?" He asked confused.

"You know… when I asked to see your tattoo… and then what happened?" She answered.

He laughed suddenly remembering. "To be honest I can't remember past _my_ reaction to that."

She chuckled to herself softly and said, "I was basically glued to your body, remember? You practically had to peel me off of you, so you could take me home so that you wouldn't have to be alone with me!"

Quil laughed again suddenly remembering how tightly she had been pressed up against him that night.

"I didn't trust _myself_ with you! Not that I didn't trust you being left alone with _me_ ; your all too willing partner in crime! If you would remember how I got the hickeys… I definitely wasn't pushing you away from my neck…. You were the one that was setting all of the boundaries… I was the one that couldn't control myself around you." He told her while thinking of all the times he couldn't stop himself from touching her as much as he could… all of the times he had actually started to lean in to kiss her before catching himself… even just the times he couldn't make himself look away from her when she smiled.

He was surprised by her again when she scoffed in response.

"Yeah, all of my boundary settings…." She said skeptically. "You remember how I wouldn't let you kiss me that day?" She asked him.

"Of course."

He vividly remembered the feelings of frustration that she refused to let him express his feelings to her in the way that made the most sense.

She laughed and said, "I only made you stop because I knew if you actually kissed me I wouldn't be able to stop. There was no way I could push you away or ignore the truth if you actually did… it's why I wanted you to stop trying… I knew I couldn't fight you much longer… I wanted you too much…." She said sincerely before tacking on quickly, "Wanted to be _with you_ , I mean!"

Quil laughed remembering. "I should have kissed you then!"

"... Yeah, maybe you should have!" She mused with a laugh.

"Better late than never?" He asked.

"Late? It only took you three weeks to make your move… that doesn't seem late to me…." She said quickly.

"That's true… If I was a better man I would have waited until you were twenty-one to make a move." He told her honestly.

"Well then I'm glad you're not a better man." She said wickedly in a way that made him both crazy irrationally frustrated she wasn't there and glad that she wasn't because he knew there was no way he would be able to control himself around her after she said something like that.

He groaned out loud in frustration as a result.

'What?" She asked sounding worried.

"You're killing me." He replied, still trying to get over his irrational reactions.

"In what way?" She asked confused.

"In every way, Claire! You just constantly make me crazy!" He said still in frustration.

"I'm sorry?" She replied.

He suddenly laughed, surprised by her reaction and it cleared away the rest of his uncouth response to her.

"I told you, you were so lovable it was trouble causing."

"That's true. You did say that." She said reasonably before giving another huge yawn that made him yawn in response.

He sighed as he reached a hand up and ran it through his hair. He desperately missed her. Painfully so. But he knew that continuing to tell her would only put unneeded pressure on her to come home and that for the time being, she was where she should be.

They just sat there in comfortable silence for a moment before she laughed again softly.

"What?" He asked with a smile at the sound of her laugh.

"I'm just remembering how confused I was about how drawn to you I felt when I was touching your tattoo…. It seems so painfully obvious now that I was _ALL OVER_ you!" She explained.

"Well I wasn't complaining…. If you hadn't seemed so scared by it all I really don't think anything would have stopped me from kissing you." He replied.

"That's what scared me! You weren't nervous at all! You were just going to go for it and I was going to have to catch up quick!" She laughed.

"I'm sorry." He said honestly while suddenly seeing it from her sixteen-year-old perspective. "I shouldn't have put you in that position!"

She laughed again and said, " _You_ didn't! _I_ was touching _you,_ remember!?"

"Oh yeah!" He said with a laugh, remembering the exact way she had kissed his chest. "You _did_ sneak attack me!"

"I think I sneak attacked both of us." She replied honestly.

He chuckled again thinking of that moment. "You were probably more surprised by all of your attacks than I was!"

"Probably!" She agreed with a chuckle.

They kept laughing and talking late into the night. Quil kept meaning to let her go get some sleep but then he just couldn't seem to make himself stop talking with her. Finally, he paused to yawn massively in the middle of a detailed analysis of Jacob's patrol formations when he heard Claire fall asleep. He smiled to himself as he realized that he had heard the exact moment she had actually fallen to sleep.

She had been listening silently and then she sighed and was out like a light. She was breathing slowly and deeply, and she was already doing that tiniest of snores she did only when she was completely exhausted. He could have hung up but instead he just turned off his light before he stripped down to his boxer-briefs and climbed into bed. He hit the speaker phone button and placed the phone on the pillow on her side of the bed… her pillow, since she was the only one who had ever used it. He closed his eyes and relaxed while for a second it felt like she was right there, just past his touch, breathing while she slept beside him.

He fell asleep quickly and slept deeply and soundly, feeling at peace being able to hear Claire sleep as if she was next to him. He was woken up two hours later when his phone beeped loudly indicating an end call. He knew that her phone must have died but he missed her instantly. The room suddenly felt so large and quiet without the sound of her sleeping. Quil grabbed at his phone and plugged it into the charger since it was only at 13% before he rolled over on his side and tried to fall back to sleep.

His right arm suddenly felt like it couldn't get comfortable since it kept stretching out just as he was about to fall asleep and coming up empty as it searched for Claire to pull her in tight. The only other time he had felt like this was that night of Collin's accident when after dealing with cops, paramedics, tribal elders, wolves and what seemed like everyone under the sun while having to constantly report the situation back bit by bit to Jacob and then implement whatever orders Jake saw fit to give… Finally, after hours of hell he had made it home and collapsed on his bed without bothering to clean up at all. He had been exhausted and constantly on the edge of falling asleep at least six times before he would reach out for the comfort of Claire and wake up empty handed.

It had driven him so crazy he had gotten up and gone to her house where he had snuck in and crawled into bed with her. He had initially thought if he could just hold her and feel her in his arms for a few moments then he would be able to go home and get some rest. By the time he was actually in her bed with her he convinced himself that he would only stay for an hour before he left….

This time there was no option for him to crawl into her bed with her. He just had to remind himself that she was gone and that she would call again tomorrow. The third time he reached out for her and woke up with his brain panicked she wasn't there, he finally sat up, aggravated. If he could only just smell her, then he thought he might relax and fall back to sleep. He quickly got up and started trying to think of the best way to find her scent before he went to his dresser and started to go through his clean clothes she had washed and folded a couple weeks back. He finally found a pair of sweat pants that for some reason seemed to smell like her the most. He grabbed that as he got back in bed.

Her scent wasn't very strong but if he inhaled deeply and slowly he could still smell her… strawberries and coconut just like Bennett had described. He relaxed deeply while feeling closer to her than he had even while he had been listening to her soft breathing. He thought it might have something to do with using his stronger wolf senses that made the connection stronger. He was relaxing deeply without any specific thought to and then before he knew it he was waking up to his phone alarm set to get him up in time to take Jake to the airport.

Taking Jacob to Seattle was depressing for multiple reasons… not the least of which was that Jake was actually leaving and leaving him in charge again. It also sucked that when he had dropped Claire off at the airport he had picked Jake up at the same time. Quil had always been hoping that she would be back in time to do the reverse with.

Jacob seemed almost smug when Quil told him that they were officially dating now as a result of the conversation meant to resolve things between them. Quil hadn't talked to Jacob since the bonfire and he had asked if they had managed to fix things after the drunken phone calls. Jake seemed almost impressed but mostly like he had just always known it would happen.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't get cocky….She's _my_ imprint, if anyone gets to be cocky about the fact that we're together now, it's me!" Quil had told him.

"Look at you, Quil, you're practically glowing!" Jacob teased him with a laugh before asking, "So, where's the ring?"

"What!? What ring?" Quil asked shocked.

"The engagement ring!" Jake answered sounding like he might only be half kidding.

"Whoa, okay, first of all she's only sixteen, I don't think marriage is on the table quite yet. Second, we have been dating since yesterday, so it's not like she's waiting around for a proposal and third, she's sixteen! Don't you think I should wait until she's out of high school!?" Quil immediately defended but suddenly wondered why he felt so much like he needed to defend all his reasons for not having gotten an engagement ring already.

"Yeah, but you're not sixteen." Jake said reasonably.

"So?" Quil asked confused by this reasoning.

"So, we're in our thirties now…. Aren't you ready to settle down and move on with your life?"

"… I mean not really…. I don't think I'm ever ready for anything until Claire is…. I had never even thought of having a girlfriend until she suddenly had a boyfriend… By all accounts she's my first real relationship…" Quil pointed out reasonably.

"Really!?" Jake said musing as Quil nodded. "What about Bianca Sanchez?"

Quil shook his head before he answered, "No, we never dated. We just hooked up about every other weekend junior year, but I was still hooking up with other girls at the same time."

"Hmm… So, you've really never even had a girlfriend before…. To be fair I guess I didn't either… it just seems strange when you say it like that." Jake mused.

"Yeah, I guess you went straight from stalking Bella to stalking Renesmee!" Quil teased.

"Um, I'm sorry, whose girlfriend is a sixteen-year-old sophomore?" Jake immediately razed him.

"I'm sorry, whose _wife_ is a fourteen-year-old teen mom?" Quil responded.

"Eww, don't talk about the mother of my children that way… it makes me feel so creepy…." Jake said emphatically while Quil held out his hand as if saying, _exactly my point!_

"Okay, but Renesmee is not fourteen… At least not physically anyways…" Jake argued.

"Are you honestly saying Claire actually looks like your average sixteen-year-old?" Quil asked skeptically.

He knew he wasn't just biased by the imprintation towards her… he wasn't the only man that responded that way to her. She was just incredibly beautiful, and she looked like she was about twenty-one.

"I don't know." Jake answered honestly. "I don't think I've _seen_ Claire in over a year…"

Quil nodded as he looked at Jake before looking back at the road. He pulled out his phone and pulled up a picture of the two of them. It was a selfie Quil had taken from about a week ago where he was standing behind Claire as she held the cake they had made for Quil's birthday/GED celebration in her left arm. Claire had wanted a picture of the cake but Quil had just wanted a picture of the two of them together and an excuse to wrap his arm around her waist in front of him.

Jake let out a surprised whistle before he said, "Damn, Quil. No wonder you wanted to lock her down…"

Quil just nodded his head emphatically in full agreement.

"I mean, how long has she looked like _that_!?" Jake asked like he couldn't get over it.

" _Okay!_ " Quil said quickly as he took his phone back from him. "You're happily married to your own beautiful imprint, alright?"

Jake rolled his eyes. "You're the one who wanted me to see what she looked like."

Quil just rolled his own eyes knowing that as far as Jacob was concerned, he had nothing to worry about.

"So, then when are you going to?" Jake asked like he was getting back to the point.

"Going to what?" Quil asked confused.

"Propose." He answered like it was a completely obvious conclusion.

"What? I'm not! I already told you, Jake."

Quil couldn't understand why Jake kept pushing them to get married.

"So, you have _no_ game plan?" Jake asked skeptically.

"Um, my game plan is to be with her for as long as possible." Quil responded.

"And you think Claire is going to cool with that?" Jake said in disbelieve.

"Well since she's only sixteen and still in high school… _yeah_ , I think she'll be fine with that."

"Dude, it doesn't matter how old she is… Claire is _not_ a let's-see-where-this-takes-us type of girl… she is one hundred percent a needs-a-bigger-commitment kind of girl…" Jacob said confidently.

"How could you possibly know that?" Quil asked doubtfully.

"Well for starters, how long has she been waiting for you to get your shit together, so you could be together?" Jake pointed out.

"What!?" Quil laughed in complete disbelieve.

"We all know that _she's_ the one who has been waiting for you, not the other way around."

"She hasn't been waiting for me… she had a boyfriend, remember?" Quil pointed out.

"She told Leah that she wanted to be with Bennett because you didn't see her that way. That you viewed her as a child and were out of her reach…"

"She said that!?" Quil asked surprised and confused.

"Yup, I saw it in Leah's memory last night."

"When did they have _that_ conversation?" Quil asked.

"Um… Leah was doing her makeup for something…" Jacob started trying to remember secondhand.

"…For homecoming!?" Quil asked, surprised that he had missed such a crucial conversation months ago.

Jake nodded, "I think so… she went with Bennett, right? So, see, maybe if you had been willing to be with her she wouldn't have wanted to be with him…"

Quil suddenly remembered back to the day that Bennett had asked Claire to homecoming and how she had showed up that night so upset because she knew that _they_ were supposed to be together… how she had kissed him first… how she had thought about in the future getting pregnant with _his_ child… Maybe she really had been waiting for him to catch up…

"Plus, how long was she even with Bennett for?" Jacob continued, interrupting his potential epiphany.

"Four months." Quil answered robotically while still stewing on the sudden realization of the role reversal in his relationship with Claire.

He had always assumed because of her age he was ahead of her in terms of an emotional relationship but seeing the facts presented to him made him realize he couldn't be more wrong.

"Exactly. They were only together for four months and yet look how much their breakup tore them both up… She had him completely infatuated, head over heels in love, making plans for the future, one hundred percent committed in just four months of knowing him… You know he was already planning to propose and she wasn't even his imprint." Jacob said knowingly.

Quil had seen those vague memories of plans in Bennett's mind of how he had wanted to stay as close to Claire as he could after he graduated. He was only a junior and he had already made plans to apply exclusively to colleges within fifty miles of the reservation, even staying and doing school online if that was what it took to stay with her. He was going to stay a year until she graduated then he was going to propose so that they could get married and go off to college together. It was something Bennett had _tried_ to think about a lot those first few days he had become a wolf. Quil was surprised that Jake had seen it in his mind though since Jake hadn't even met him until after Bennett had imprinted on Macy.

"We both know that Bennett isn't even _nearly_ that emotionally committed to Macy yet." Jake pointed out.

"What's your point?" Quil asked him a little irritably. He didn't need a reminder of just how in love Claire and Bennett had been only weeks ago.

"My point is that Claire is that type of girl. Less then six months and plans for marriage and babies…. You might need to step your game up and try to catch up if you expect to maintain a long-term relationship with her…." Jacob said warningly.

"You think she's going to want a ring?" Quil asked sincerely.

He was completely divided between two mindsets; that Claire was way too young to consider getting engaged and they had been officially together less than twenty-four hours…. and that Jacob had been dead on about the type of girl Claire really was and that she would always be comfortable with more commitment instead of less.

"Eventually. Yeah, I think she will. And you had better be prepared when she does. I don't think a teenaged Claire that feels prepared to take the next step in life will have much patience to wait around for a guy in his thirties who isn't… and let's be real, if you aren't ready for what she is, she isn't going to have a problem finding someone who is…. She already did it once…" Jacob answered warningly.

It took Quil less than three seconds of thinking about it to realize that Jacob was right and that he did _NOT_ want to get left behind when Claire did decide she was ready for more.

"… Maybe I _should_ get a ring!" he said worried.

Jake laughed at Quil's reaction before he said,

"Well I don't think you need to stop at a jewelry store on your way home, but I do think it's something you should be aware of so that you can prepare in time."

Quil nodded in agreement as they pulled into Seattle.

After that they got to the airport quickly and Jake extended an offer to fly them out to France to visit them for Christmas saying that since Nessie was a child at the same time as Claire (if only incredibly briefly) she felt like they had grown up together and was Renesmee's _only_ childhood friend. Quil was all for it but said that he needed to discuss it with Claire before he committed, but he couldn't see a problem with it and knew that she would be psyched both to go to Europe and to visit Renesmee and her children.

"Plus, let's be real… Paris at Christmas…. _Is_ there a better way to propose?" Jake asked. Quil shoved at him before giving him an unashamedly long hug and admitting he'd miss his alpha.

Quil's drive home went by quickly as he thought about how excited Claire would be at the prospect of spending Christmas in Europe, and what exactly he wanted out of his relationship with her.

He had known for a while that he wanted everything with her. He just needed to make sure that he was ready for it all when she decided she was, because Jake was right, if he wasn't ready Quil was positive there would be another guy that was willing to give Claire everything she wanted if he wasn't.


	6. Chapter 5(B)

***** **Author's Note***

 **To my Dear Sweet Readers,**

 **I am sorry for the short hiatus. I realize that** **I have a tendency to make promises when it comes to my uploading that I can't seem to fulfill and while it breaks my heart to not be able to spend nearly as much time working on Claireification (I.E. editing, uploading, reading, writing... it's an existensive process that I take very seriously... probably a lot more seriously than I really should) as I'd like to, I do also have to realize that I have responsibilities in my real life (like real-real responsibilities like changing diapers and feeding my kids -Yes, I have kids. No, I'm not that old) and those responsibilities are just more important. That being said, Claire and Quil are also very important to me. I think about them all the time, on a daily basis. So, if you ever wonder where I am and why I'm not posting, just know that I'm still thinking. I'm still living but my brain has definitely not given up on my sweet Imprintation. I so appreciate the comments and reviews on my chapters. You have no idea how much it means to me to get a glimpse of what you thought and those comments more than anything else is what motivates me to find the time to post again, so if you are a reviewer, _PLEASE_ keep leaving me notes! If you're just a ghost reader, that's fine too, you're still welcome here but maybe consider that behind the words is a real person who takes time out of a real life to post and would love to hear if you enjoyed what they have to offer ... wow that sounded way preachy and guilt-trippy -must be the mom in me showing again! ;) jk jk. **

**Okay so enough of that nonsense! On to explanations! I absolutely love the ending line of Chapter 5 BUT as I began the editing process of posting Chapter 6 (coming very soon!) it became clear that it made absolutely no sense for Chapter 6 to start here, so what does that leave? It leaves 9 pages that are somehow caught in between Chapters 5 and 6 so I'm calling this Chapter 5 Extension AKA Chapter 5(B). So without further ado, please enjoy this random extension of the last chapter and maybe leave me a note letting me know what you think while you wait in what I'm sure are raptures (Okay I'm rolling my eyes at myself now...) for Chapter 6 to be posted!**

 **xoxo**

 **Jess**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 5 Extension:**

Claire texted Quil right as he was getting back from Seattle. As he pulled onto to the reservation he pulled up the message that said hi and apologized for falling asleep on him the night before. Quil responded quickly,

 **I didn't mind babe, I shouldn't have kept you up so late… when can you talk? I have something exciting to tell you…**

She responded a minute later,

 **I don't think I can until tonight…. Apparently Sundays are pretty busy since we have to prep for any additional tenants this week. What is it!?**

Quil sighed at the prospect of not getting to speak with Claire until late that night because of their two-hour time difference but shook his head and replied,

 **It's a surprise,,, I'll tell you when we talk.**

 _There!_ He thought, _Now she'll have to call._ Knowing she was never very patient when it came to surprises.

 **Mmmm. Can I have a hint?**

He laughed at how cute she was as he pulled up in front of the garage.

 **It's about Christmas…..**

He figured that would probably be enough to get her to bite and call him when she at least had a spare minute. He turned off the car but sat waiting as he watched the little bubble that indicated she was typing and stared at his phone for her response.

 **Christmas!? It's barely February! Well now I'm curious! What on earth would have you already thinking about Christmas?**

He smiled knowing he had got her before he responded,

 **We missed Christmas together last year so of course I've got to be prepared for this next one together to be epic!**

His phone pinged less than a minute later.

 **Well I'm expecting some serious epicness! I g2g babe, things are getting busy and I need my hand** **️ I'll call you tonight!**

He blew out a sigh since he had been hoping to get just a two-minute call from her to start his day with but quickly responded,

👍❤️ **have a good day** **.**

That night he got a text from her instead of a call.

 **Hey babe, I'm actually going to go out with Sarah and Luke tonight. Apparently it's a Sunday night tradition for the staff to go out together before a new week of patrons…. I probably will be out late… do you want me to call when I get back or just wait until tomorrow?**

It took Quil less than ten seconds to respond,

 **Tonight definitely.**

He fell asleep waiting for her to call but she eventually did, and he woke up around midnight when his phone rang.

"Hey!" He answered groggily.

"Hey, did I just wake you up?" She asked as Butch started to whine at the sound of her voice over the phone.

"No, I was waiting up for you to call." He replied.

"…and then you fell asleep!" She pretended to finish for him with a laugh.

"Maybe." He admitted.

"Sorry, I didn't think we'd be out so late or I would have just called you tomorrow… or later today I guess." She said regretfully.

"No, I'd rather hear from you late than miss you completely." He said honestly.

"Well good. So, I'm dying to hear your Christmas surprise!" She said excitedly.

He had been about to ask her about her night but was diverted instead by her question.

"I mean, I don't know if I should tell you… I kind of like leaving you in suspense and knowing that you'll have to call me again to find out!" He teased her.

She chuckled and said,

"Because otherwise I'll never have a reason to call you again?"

"It's crossed my mind…" he teased.

"If you haven't gotten rid of me by now I doubt you ever will." She said honestly.

Quil smiled at the thought.

"Good. I don't ever want to get rid of you." He said sincerely.

"Well, I'm sticking around." She said cheerfully. "Now quit stalling and tell me what is going on with Christmas!"

Quil laughed and said,

"Alright, alright! You know how Jake flew home today?"

"Yeah… you dropped him off at the airport in Seattle this morning, right?" She replied.

"Yes, I did… he is oddly smug that we are dating, by the way…." He told her getting diverted again.

Claire laughed and said,

"Your whole pack will probably be pretty smug… everyone has invested years in waiting for us to be together so…. It's probably to be expected."

Quil hadn't thought about it like that but realized she was right.

"Yeah, I guess that's true… well anyways… apparently you were Renesmee's only childhood friend since she was only a kid for all of fifteen minutes or something like that and I guess she has been dying to see you again…"

Claire gasped and said excitedly,

"Are they coming for Christmas!? That'll be amazing! I haven't seen her in so long! Oh, and the kids, Quil! They've got to be getting so big!"

"No, they aren't coming here… sorry… Renesmee still can't come since she might have been what triggered Bennett's wolf gene." Quil told her regretfully.

"Aww!" She said obviously disappointed. "Bummer. It would have been so fun to spend Christmas with them…"

"I didn't say we weren't going to spend Christmas with them…" Quil teased.

"But if they aren't coming…. You mean we're …..?"

"Going to Paris for Christmas? Yeah, Jacob offered to fly us out for two weeks in December." He explained happily.

She was completely silent for so long that Quil had to ask,

"Claire?"

"I think I just fainted…" she said breathlessly. "We're going to Paris?"

"Yup." He said with a smile.

"Together?"

"Mmmhmm."

"For Christmas?"

"That's what I said."

It was quiet on the line for a few seconds before Claire shrieked so loudly that he had to pull the phone away from his ear with a startled, "Oh shi-!"

"Oh my gosh, Quil! This is so exciting! PARIS!" She shrieked again out of pure excitement while Quil laughed at her unexpectedly teenaged reaction.

Quil's sensitive hearing picked up the sound of what he assumed was Sarah's voice say on the other end,

"Claire! Keep it down! We were supposed to get back two hours ago, and Tami is gonna kill us if she realizes we just got in."

"Sarah! Quil and I are going to Paris for Christmas!" Claire gushed to her.

"Hold up!" He heard Sarah say quietly enough that if he was a normal person he would never be able to hear it. "Your boyfriend of all of like thirty something hours is taking you to _Paris_ for Christmas!?"

"Mmhmm!" Claire said like she couldn't believe it.

Quil was starting to wonder if she had forgotten he was still on the phone she was holding.

"What the hell, Claire!?" Sarah said sounding jealous before she started shrieking with Claire out of excitement.

Claire seemed to be giggling uncontrollably before she managed to get out,

"Quil? Can I call you back in a minute? I need a second to freak out!"

Quil laughed. He figured she would be excited about the idea but had no idea she would be so thrilled.

"Just call me tomorrow, babe."

"Okay! Ahh! We're going to Paris!" She gushed out still overexcited.

"Well not for another nine months but, yes, we are!" Quil assured her. She shrieked again and he chuckled before he said, "It's late though, don't stay up too much longer freaking out about it, alright? Get some rest too."

"Okay. Hey, Quil?"

"Yeah, baby?" He said while he started searching on his nightstand for his phone charger to plug it in.

"I love you!" She said sincerely.

He stopped to smile. He would have immediately accepted Jacobs offer and had him book the tickets then if he had known she would react this way.

"I love you too, Baby." He said feeling contented. "I'm glad you're happy."

"Are you kidding!? I'm SOO happy!" She said excitedly.

"Good. Alright, bye!" He said since he could hear Sarah waiting anxiously to freak out with her.

"Bye, Baby!" She said and Quil could hear Claire and Sarah's combined screams before he had even hung up.

Quil laughed to himself before he plugged his phone in and went contentedly back to sleep knowing that Claire was happy.

The next few weeks started to fall into a pattern for Quil. The following afternoon Claire had called him excited with a "Guess which arm I'm using to hold my phone right now!" after she had gotten her full cast removed and her partial put on. She couldn't talk for long but she had called him that night before bed and just wanted him to give her as many details as he possibly could give her about their impending trip to Paris that December.

That Saturday they started their weekly FaceTime dates. It was always a huge relief for Quil to actually be able to see Claire's beautiful face light up when she talked instead of just imagining it as he spoke with her. She had introduced him to Sarah over one of their FaceTime sessions and Quil was relieved with how normal and down to earth she was, seeing as she was someone Claire spent a lot of time around. He wanted to be introduced to more of the people Claire talked so much about but she refused to since she couldn't let him speak to Tami who couldn't know they were dating since she wasn't "in" on the secrets of the supernatural world and would freak out if she found out that Claire was dating her former "nanny" (which is what Robert had told her Quil was as an explanation for his constant presence around her as a child.)

Sarah who was apparently fine keeping secrets from Tami, knew and Claire said that Luke also knew that they were dating. But Quil got nervous when Claire refused to introduce him via FaceTime to this mysterious Luke when all he knew about him was that he was a drug addict and that he seemed to need Claire's help a LOT working around the ranch. It wasn't until Claire explained that she had led Luke to believe that Quil was a lot closer to her own age after Luke had found out about the drunken booty call and that was why she felt like she couldn't let Luke see Quil that he felt better about it.

They had been dating almost a week when Quil sent Claire another bouquet, this time of roses, on February 14th. It had cost more to have those delivered on Valentine's Day then it had to send his apology bouquet in less then two hours in January, but it had definitely been worth it when Claire unexpectedly FaceTimed him just to show him the bouquet and tell him how excited she was about it. He could immediately tell from the look on her face how much she meant it when she said she loved them.

The weeks past surprisingly quickly while Quil fell into a daily routine that involved checking his phone in the mornings as he got up and then texting Claire sporadically as he worked. He would usually finish working in the early afternoons where he would meet Bennett at the gym after school got out (both to keep his afternoons full and to make sure that Bennett had a little time everyday that was completely Macy-free. He didn't want to admit it out loud but if he was honest he was worried that Bennett being with her might not be the best thing for him…) then he would usually run the early evening patrols so that he could be back in time to take Claire's pre-bedtime phone call.

On the few nights he didn't run patrols he would go over to Claire's house to visit Jamie and Robert, Rachel was usually out with her boyfriend and for some reason that worried Quil, Susan seemed to be home as little as possible these days. They had started doing long rounds of monopoly and keeping track of who had lost and who had won the most (Jamie was becoming freakishly good at it) but when Jamie began to have more wins than Robert and Quil combined Robert surprised the boys and bought a ping pong table to go in the unfinished basement. Quil was psyched since ping pong was much more his speed than board games and they usually played Robert and Jamie on a team against Quil alone.

Quil had always felt that the Youngs were his true family since Claire would always be the heart of whatever family he had, but he was surprised and grateful to be able to maintain such a strong familia relationship with them even without Claire there.

When he got home he and Claire usually talked so late into the night that one of them would fall asleep on the phone. If she was the one to fall asleep first, and she usually was, Quil would just put his phone on speaker and listen to her breathing while he slept all night long. Frequently they would spend the whole night that way and Quil would wake up to her alarm going off in the morning where they would briefly say good morning's and I love you's before hanging up, so Claire could shower and charge her phone and Quil could get a couple more hours of sleep.

Saturdays were usually the best part of Quil's week when they would FaceTime, usually for hours on end, where Butch would continually try to lick Quil's phone screen in an attempt to lick Claire.

Claire had been gone for about four weeks when she called Quil late one Sunday evening. She had been telling him about the bonfire she had been at that night with the other hands when she said,

"I'm sad this'll be my last bonfire…"

Quil was trying desperately to squash the hope in his chest when he asked,

"What do you mean?"

"Well….. I'm coming home this week!" She admitted surprising him.

"What!? You're kidding!... Claire…. I ….. you're really coming back!?" He asked. He was so flustered and disbelieving that something he wanted _SO_ badly could actually happen.

She laughed and said,

"Really! My dad booked my flight today. I'll be home Friday afternoon… I'm sorry but that was the soonest they had a direct flight and everything else that left earlier had some ridiculously long lay overs."

"Psh!" He scoffed, "You're coming home _Friday_!? That's even before our next FaceTime date! Claire! You're actually going to be here!" He felt like a kid on Christmas with the amount of excitement he couldn't seem to control.

She laughed at his reaction and said,

"Yeah, I will be!"

"But wait!" He said suddenly as he took the time to think it through for the first time. "Are you sure about this!? Are you sure you're ready to come back already?"

"I'm one hundred percent sure! I can't keep doing this long distance with you! Yeah, we're making it work but I need to be there! To hear your voice and know that you are actually there!" She insisted, he shook his head thinking that she was getting her words directly from his head about how he felt about her.

"Yeah, but Claire, we can keep making it work! We already decided that you went for you and that you wouldn't come back for me! We have the rest of our lives to be together, so for a few weeks… or months" (he admitted hesitantly) "we can handle long-distance."

As much as he wanted her back there with him he truly didn't want to be the reason she came back before she was ready.

"I know but honestly, Babe, it's time. You aren't the only reason I should be home now… not the least of them is that I'm starting to get behind in school again… things are slowing down on the ranch and they don't really need me now… It doesn't even hurt when I think about Bennett anymore… I really just want him to be happy… and it's only mildly irritating to think of him with Macy." (Quil snicker at that since it was at least mildly irritating for _him_ to think of Bennett with Macy and he had never been in love with him.) "I haven't seen Jamie in weeks and he sounds older every time I speak to him! I feel like I'm already missing his childhood! And yeah… I absolutely want to be back _with_ you!" She explained.

"Alright!" He said already convinced she was really ready. "What time does your flight get in? Can I pick you up, or does your dad want to? I'll just make him take me with him if I have to…"

She chuckled and said,

"No, I actually need a ride home if you're up for it… my flight gets in at 3:15 and both my parents will be at work still."

"Are you kidding? It would take the National Guard to keep me from being at the airport by 2:00 on Friday!" He told her.

After that she told him more details of her flight scheduled for just five more days, and about her busy last Sunday prepping for new patrons. Quil fell asleep first for the first time in weeks. He just felt so relieved that she was really coming home that he was more relaxed than usual and fell asleep to the sound of her voice.


	7. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

 **Claire:**

Claire's heart was pounding in her chest as she stepped off the plane onto the gate. She had been so busy preparing herself to say goodbye to Tami's ranch and all the people there that she hadn't really prepared herself to come home. The second she had taken her seat three hours earlier it had finally occurred to her that she would be seeing Quil for the first time since they had started dating. The anticipation of seeing him had been killing her all week but as soon as she sat down and realized _he_ would actually be seeing _her_ she started to panic a little.

She suddenly wanted to blow him away when he did see her, and she wished that she had thought to wear some of the new clothes she had bought with Sarah over the past few weeks instead of saving them for when she went back to school.

She had dressed to prepare to fly. Warm, comfortable clothes with flats that she could walk in and would be easy to take on and off through security. She _had_ thought to wear the same sweater she had left in. It felt poetic to come back in it somehow, like she was saying that she was the same person even if she had changed a little while she was gone…

She was wearing her ripped skinny jeans that she was no longer allowed to wear to school due to their 'revealing nature' but she was glad she had worn them today since she had always felt that she looked good in them and the one-time Quil had such a strong reaction to her she had been wearing them. She thought her makeup looked good even if it was simple. She had done a matte mauve lipstick with a winged eyeliner and big mascara since it was flattering and made her look older. She had actually done it so that the flight attendants would hopefully think she was older than she was and pay less attention to the young girl with a broken arm. At least she was in a partial cast and not wearing her sling any more (even if she was technically still supposed to) and the flight attendants did seem to be less concerned about her this time around.

She was definitely feeling thankful that she had decided to do her more mature makeup. It didn't seem like a bad idea to look older than she was the first time Quil saw her again.

No, her clothes were fine, even if they weren't as killer as she would have wanted to be, and her makeup was spot on, she would have done it the same even if she had thought ahead enough to.

The thing she was really worried about was her hair…. She and Sarah had spontaneously decided to take the afternoon off on Monday and go get their hair done. Five hours and two hundred dollars later Claire had returned to the ranch with her hair six inches shorter, full of layers, texture, and… Blonde… well not completely blonde, it was technically a balayage, but it came so high up that only the top three inches of her hair were the natural black/brown color and the rest faded into varying hues of dark to light blonde.

She had decided to do it on a whim after seeing a similar hair style in a magazine she was looking through at the salon. Sarah had raved about it. Claire had been undecided if it was either the best thing she had ever done with her hair or her greatest mistake until she left the salon and saw her reflection in a display window in the mall and suddenly _loved_ it. Luke had said it looked "-hot… maybe even sexy" and she knew he would have no qualms about telling her if it looked bad. No, she loved her hair but Quil still hadn't seen it. She had told him she got it done that night when they talked but knew that it would be difficult to describe to him with terms like 'ombré' and 'balayage' and they hadn't FaceTimed since Saturday….

She was suddenly incredibly nervous that he wouldn't like it. She was trying not to think about the possibility that he wouldn't and kept reminding herself that he loved _her,_ not her hair, but as soon as she walked off the gate and into the airport Claire made a beeline to the restroom to give herself a chance to brace herself before she went to meet him.

After Claire came out of the stall she went to wash her hands at an empty sink next to a girl who had been on her flight and looked like she was in her early twenties. Claire noticed that her fitted black blazer was similar to one Claire had bought the same day she had done her hair. She took note of the girl's black capris and kitten heels she had paired with it, making metal pictures to use later when she wore the blazer.

Claire quickly dried her hands and then moved to the full-length mirror by the door to critically look at her reflection for the first time that day. She was biting her lips nervously. Her makeup still looked good and she was right about the jeans… she thought they even looked a little sexy with the rips showing just a tease of skin all the way up her thighs. Her sweater was fitted nicely to her waist and the neckline wasn't so high that it looked frumpy or anything…. No, the thing that was _SO_ different was her hair. She started twisting it nervously in her fingers. She couldn't be impartial enough to even remember if she liked it at this point. She had curled it in soft waves with Sarah's curling iron and she was trying to remember how she had felt about it after she had finished doing it that morning when the girl with the blazer walked past to throw away her paper towel and said brightly,

"I love your hair!"

"Really!?" Claire asked way more desperately than is really appropriate to a stranger.

"Yeah! The curls look great and I love the ombré!" She said sincerely.

"Thank you so much!" said Claire appreciatively as she followed her out the door to wait for the next tram that would take them to the main section of the airport with baggage claim.

"Are you trying to impress someone?" The girl asked curiously having obviously noticed Claire's crisis in front of the mirror.

"Yeah," Claire admitted with a sheepish shrug. "… my boyfriend… I haven't seen him since I got my hair done….. since we started dating actually…"

"Did you meet online or something?" The girl asked sounding curious.

"No, I've actually known him for years. Things were kind of heating up between us a few weeks back but then I left unexpectedly and we just happened to make it official in that time… _but now_ I'm about to go meet him for the first time as his girlfriend and I'm freaking out a little bit about it…" Claire explained as she followed her new friend onto the tram that was seconds away from Quil.

"Well you look amazing!" She said kindly. "A little advice? You're going to see your boyfriend for the first time and you want to knock him off his feet, right?"

"Right!" Claire confirmed eager for whatever advice she was about to offer.

"Then give him a little something to be knocked away with." The girl said as she put her purse over her shoulder and placed both hands on the waist of Claire's sweater as she tugged on it to pull down the neck line to the point where it was just low enough to hint at cleavage put would definitely flash all of her bra if Claire bent over even a few inches.

"Really? Not too much, you think?" Claire asked surprised.

She had been a little shocked that this stranger would feel comfortable not only touching her but exposing more of her skin but felt that she had opened herself up to it when she had given her so much personal information… plus she liked the way this girl presented herself. She had this kind of sexy, professional, put-together vibe that Claire definitely wouldn't be opposed to striving for.

"No! Not at all! It's hot but not trashy!" The girl whose name she didn't even know assured her.

"Thanks!" Said Claire surprised as the tram arrived and the doors opened.

Claire heaved her over large purse that had been her carry-on bag farther up her shoulder and followed the girl off the tram and toward the escalators that lead down to baggage claim. She was boarder-line hyperventilating now as she forced her feet to move forward. The girl obviously noticed her reaction and said, "Relax! You look killer, honestly! Why would I lie to a stranger!?" as they stepped onto the escalator.

Claire just gave her a large smile as she took a deep breath to try to calm herself and prepare to meet the man that was her entire future. She turned to scan the large crowded room below her. It only took a second to spot Quil standing by a set of automatic doors with Butch sitting obediently next to him. He was wearing a simple gray T-shirt that fit nicely over all the cut muscles of his arms and chest and a pair of khaki Levi's. It was basically the same version of what he wore pretty much every day, but Claire couldn't believe how good he looked in it with his tall frame filling it out so nicely. His hair was getting so long it had to be going on six months since he had gotten it cut but she liked it if only because it made him look different from every other time he had ever picked her up from anything. Her flight had landed early so he wasn't looking for her yet and hadn't noticed her coming towards him as she stood on the escalator since he was looking down at his phone while he stood patiently waiting.

She was surprised when her heart that had been pounding just a moment ago, completely stopped for a solid second before restarting at an entirely normal rhythm while feeling immediately at peace. All of her nerves were completely gone the second she laid eyes on him. _He_ was always where she was supposed to be and that left a certainty in it's wake that made her feel absolutely no hesitation in seeing him.

"He brought Butch!" Claire said happily surprised.

"What?" The girl standing close to her asked, clearly concerned that Claire's boyfriend would bring a guy name Butch along to pick her up.

"Our dog!" Claire explained with a laugh as she gestured toward the two of them fifty feet away.

" _That's_ your boyfriend!?" The girl asked shocked.

"Yup." Claire said happily. She knew how good looking Quil was and it definitely hadn't escaped this girl's notice.

"Maybe you should show more cleavage!" The girl said, clearly not having correctly estimated the level of attractiveness of Claire's boyfriend.

She grabbed Claire's sweater and started yanking it down about six inches lower than it already was before she started using her own hands to shove Claire's breasts up higher.

"Stop!" Claire laughed swatting her hands away like they were old friends instead of barely acquaintances, even though her hands _were_ all over her. "He's here for _me_! Not my boobs!"

"It _is_ possible he is very much here for both! How are you not nervous anymore!? _That guy_ over there calls for about six pairs of spanx and the strongest pushup bra you got!" She said emphatically.

Claire just laughed, "Would you like to meet him? He's not just hot… he can even have a conversation you know…"

"Girl! Rule number one! _Never_ introduce a man like _that_ to eligible women!" She said shocked and insistently.

"I'm really not worried." Claire said confidently.

The girl turned to give Claire an evaluating look as she stepped off the escalator with Claire behind her.

"Damn." She said simply. "Why am I trying to give _you_ advice!? You're clearly the one that's got it figured out…. _I_ should be asking you for advice on how to land a boyfriend that looks like _that_!"

Claire laughed again before she said sincerely, "He has friends, you know… even a brother…" thinking about how much she would prefer this girl she barely knew over Macy for Bennett to be with.

The girl laughed and said, "I might just need to take you up on that! What's your name!? I'm going to need to look you up on Instagram or something…. Maybe Facebook stalk your boyfriend and his hot friends!"

Claire chuckled. They were standing to the side of the escalator talking to each other but Quil still hadn't noticed her so he wasn't waiting eagerly for her to approach yet.

"I'm Claire Young." Claire told her and was surprised when the girl looked up at her, shocked.

"You're kidding!" She said. "Well that's how you know we were just meant to be friends! My name is Claire too!"

Claire laughed at the coincidence.

"Well, Claire, I guess I'll be seeing you online!" Claire said as she started backing away. She was starting to get anxious to finally make it to Quil.

The other Claire laughed and said, "See you, Claire!" As she gave a small wave and then a small but excited "Good luck!"

Claire smiled at her before she turned and walked directly toward Quil. With every step she took her smile grew larger as she got closer to him. She was twenty feet away and he still hadn't seen her, she smiled hugely when his eyes hit her but then passed right over to continue scanning the crowd.

She laughed when she realized he didn't even recognized her, especially since Butch had! He was smiling at her happily as he sat patiently wagging his tail and waiting for her to pet him. Claire enjoy the sensation of getting to sneak up on Quil since with his advanced senses she never got to. Apparently, all it took to do it after all these years was being blonde…

When she was about eight feet away she whistled at Quil and said, "Hey, stranger!"

She saw his eyes snap to her at the sound of her voice before they widened hugely in shock at her appearance. She stopped walking as her heart completely stopped at his reaction. She couldn't even breath as he stared at her until his face broke into a huge smile.

He clearly liked what he saw, and Claire broke out laughing as he said, "Whoa!" before closing the gap and grabbing her in a hug so tight she literally couldn't breath as he lifted her off her feet.

"Claire!" He said excitedly. "You're here! And you look so…."

He set her back on her feet and she blushed as she tucked her hair behind her ears and bit her lip while he stared at her.

"So..?" She asked a little nervously.

"…. Hot!" He finished.

She laughed before she asked, "Really!? You like it?" She pulled at her hair as emphasis of her now much lighter locks.

"Claire, I love it! You look amazing!" He responded sincerely.

She smiled up at him hugely before she surprised both of them by launching herself at him and wrapping both of her arms around his neck in a tight embrace. He chuckled in surprise as he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the ground again before he spun around with her in his arms. She didn't know if she would ever be able to let him go again. She hadn't been able to wrap _both_ of her arms around him in almost six months and back when she could she had never appreciated it for the gift it was. He seemed okay with the idea of her not letting him go though since he didn't seem any more eager to let her go than she was to release him.

"Oh, Claire!" He whispered softly to her so that it felt like they were completely alone in the busy baggage claim. "I _missed_ you so much!" He confessed as he held her.

She knew that he had of course been missing her, but it wasn't until that moment he said it like that that she realized how much he had been holding back from telling her, so she wouldn't be pressured to come home.

"I'm sorry!" She said sincerely while her eyes teared up just a bit. "I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere!" She promised.

"Good!" He said relieved before he set her down on her feet and pulled back to look at her again as he pulled a hand through her hair.

She was expecting him to bend down and kiss her then and was even bracing her toes to reach to meet him when instead of leaning towards her while her arms were still wrapped around his neck but was surprised when he hesitated as he looked at her lips before quickly looking down at Butch who had wormed his way between their legs and was waiting patiently but excitedly for Claire to greet him too.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who missed you!" He said happily as she let him go to bend down and embrace Butch as she pet him and let him lick her face.

"Hey boy! I didn't know you'd be here!" She told him as she looked back up at Quil.

"Yeah, he just seemed to know I was coming to get you and he did _not_ want to be left behind." He explained while Claire laughed when Butch put both of his front legs over her shoulders and licked her face before embracing her in a way only a dog could.

"Oh, I missed you too!" She said lovingly to him.

"I hope he wasn't the only one you missed…" Quil teased as he grabbed at her right hand that was still in a partial cast but exposed a lot more of her fingers than her full cast had and pulled her back up to him, so he could inspect it.

"Well this is a lot better than your first cast!" He noticed while holding on to her fingers.

"I'll say! …. And no! He wasn't the only one I missed!" She said as she grabbed onto his other hand with her free left hand and intertwined her fingers through his.

In her lifetime she had probably held Quil's hand a million times before… but never this way. They had always held hands platonically with all of their fingers wrapped around each other's. But now she confidently fed each of her fingers possessively between his and was amazed at how perfectly they fit there. He stopped inspecting her cast to smile down at her in a way that made her heart pick up it's pace. She waited for a moment for him to lean in to kiss her again before she realized that if she really wanted him to kiss her again for the first time, there were probably better places he could do it and that was probably what he was waiting for.

"Come on, let's get my bags and get out of here!" Claire said excitedly.

Quil seemed to respond gratefully to the suggestion by squeezing on to her left hand and refusing to release their intertwined fingers as they turned and made their way to Claire's baggage carousel where miraculously her bags were already up. Claire noticed the other Claire across the carousel from her and Quil, picking up her own bags. She caught her eye and she raised her brows suggestively at Claire before she winked at her. Claire gave her a small wave as Quil grabbed her duffle off the track and placed it on top of her suitcase.

"Who are you waving at?" He asked curiously as he grabbed her hand again and wove his fingers between hers liked he'd done it a million times before while grabbing her bags to wheel behind them to short term parking.

"Just a friend I made from my flight." Claire said simply as she ran her casted fingers over Butch's head.

She noticed that people gave Butch a wide berth and seemed intimidated by him, but she quickly realized that because of his large size and incredibly obedient demeanor most people seemed to assume that he was a drug sniffing security dog and didn't want to catch his attention. She smiled at the thought as she watched him stick close to her side like he was guarding her as they walked.

Claire let Quil lead her out to the Camaro with her hand intertwined with his and feeling completely whole for the first time in weeks, which was strange since she had had such a good time in Tennessee and hadn't ever noticed feeling like she was in pieces. She sighed contentedly and Quil looked over at her with a smile before he asked.

"What was that for?"

"It's just…. I dunno, the way I left…. I mean I obviously left some unfinished business," (she gestured with her free casted hand between the two of them) "and it just feels good to come back and put all the pieces together… does that even make sense?" Claire tried to explain.

'It makes perfect sense to me." He told her honestly while he pulled their intertwined hands up to his mouth to kiss her fingers softly as they made it to his car.

She smiled hugely up at him before he let go of her hand to open the trunk and put her luggage inside. She took the chance to unload her heavy purse she had been lugging around all day and dropped it in next to her bags. He closed the trunk and then turned to face her with an excited smile on his face.

"What?" She asked with a laugh.

"You wanna drive?" He asked with a grin so excited it immediately made her suspicious.

Claire laughed at him before she asked, "You want me to drive?"

"Mmhmm" he nodded.

"Why?" She asked suspiciously.

He just shrugged while he stepped closer to her.

"Do I have to have an ulterior motive to let my girlfriend drive? You've always wanted to drive the Camaro, right?" He said too innocently.

"Yeah I have, and no you don't _have_ to have an ulterior motive, but I _know_ my boyfriend and _you_ have an ulterior motive." She told him truthfully as she smiled and put her hands on his arms when he wrapped them around her waist.

He smiled and shrugged, not denying that he had a specific unshared reason for wanting her to drive as he started to move side to side taking her with him.

She laughed happily and asked,

"What are we doing here?"

"We're dancing…" he answered with a grin at her.

"Yes, we are!" She chuckled, "Why are we dancing again?"

"Because… you're sixteen…" he answered.

She gave him a confused look and he explained,

"You do _not_ look sixteen today and I have to keep reminding myself that you are every time I look at you…. This seemed to be the most age appropriate way that I could be close to you without… you know… crossing a line or something…"

 _So that's why he hasn't kissed me yet!_ She thought to herself as she smiled at him and said simply, "I like dancing…." as she ran her hands up from his biceps to his shoulders and around his neck so that she could lean in closer to him and lay her head against his chest.

She knew she could always just make the first move and kiss him, but she didn't want to push him, and she knew that he _would_ kiss her again as soon as he wrapped his head around the idea of their large age differences. She just needed to have a little patience and he would realize that his being fifteen years older than she was didn't cancel out the fact that they were perfectly right together.

He tightened his arms around her in response to her moving in closer to him. Claire sighed as they slowly danced around to the beat of his heart next to her ear, with Butch standing patiently next to them and people walking past every so often. She felt Quil's heartbeat accelerate against her cheek as she pulled her fingers through his grown-out hair at the base of his neck. The situation was starting to feel very similar to the day before she had left when she had basically attacked him in the kitchen of his apartment by running her fingers through his hair at the base of his neck… except that this time Claire had no intention of attacking him again like that in a public parking lot of an airport. She heard Quil clear his throat a little roughly though before he asked,

"'Kay you ready to drive!?"

She stopped to take a step back and pulled her arms back down to his biceps since she really was trying not to push him. She gave him a shrewd look and said,

"… Not until you tell me the real reason you want me to drive your car…"

He suddenly looked a little guilty as he looked down and shrugged again. She quickly sensed that his hesitation might be something he was more insecure about than that he had true ulterior motives. She ran her fingers across his stubbly cheek softly for a moment until he looked her in the eye again and he pulled a hand up from her waist to grab her hand on his face and kissed her palm softly before pressing it back against his face and rubbing his hand lovingly up and down her wrist.

"Can't it just be because if you drive I can spend the entire time looking at you?" He asked her with a coy smile.

She smiled in response as she thought about it before shaking her head. She knew that with his wolf reflexes he could spend half of the drive just looking at her and still be able to drive almost perfectly.

He sighed a little before he admitted.

"You asked me to teach you to drive… in the Camaro…."

"… But… I already know how to drive…." She said confused as to why that would make him want her to drive now.

"I know… because _Bennett_ taught you how…" he said finally getting to the heart of the matter.

Claire hadn't known he knew this and realized Bennett must have told him since she never had. She laughed causing him to look back up at her in response before she teased,

"Well aren't you greedy!?"

He looked at her in surprised confusion before she said reasonably,

"Quil, you were the one who taught me to tie my shoes! Who point blank refused to let my mom be the one to drop me off on my first day of kindergarten since the note specifically said only one parent could come… geese, you even bought me my first tampons! _And YOU_ were my first kiss! Not to mention, the one who will be there for any other firsts I have for…. the rest of my forever… and you're upset because _you_ didn't teach me something as menial as how to drive!?"

He smiled a little sheepishly before he laughed and said,

"Alright, when you put it like that it does seem a little greedy."

"Uh yeah!" She agreed.

"Okay well get in, I'll drive." He said immediately over it and back to his normal self as he started to turn away from her, but she grabbed onto him so that he couldn't get far.

"I didn't say I didn't _want_ to drive! I just wanted to know why you wanted me to!" She teased as she held her hand open in front of her for the keys which were unnecessary since it was a push start and the car would work as long as the keys were in Quil's pocket.

He laughed in response before he led her around to the driver's side and held the door open for her. She let Butch hop in and climb over the driver's seat to get to the back before she stepped up on her toes to quickly kiss Quil's cheek before she slid in and then had to spend the next fifteen seconds holding the button to move the seat slowly forward enough for her feet to reach the gas. Quil laughed as he shut the door and moved around to the passenger seat.

She had to wait until he was in the car to start it since he still had the key but as soon as he was Claire put her foot on the brake and hit the button. She got excited hearing the engine rev loudly to life. She could feel the engine vibrating so much more powerfully sitting in the driver's seat but ran into a problem when she brought her right arm up to place her hand around the gear shift and couldn't wrap her fingers closed all the way around it with the cast cutting across her palm. She bit her lip as she tried to force it awkwardly into reverse. Quil chuckled at her obvious predicament before he put his entire hand on top of hers which fit all the way around hers (cast and all) and swiftly put the car into gear.

"Thanks" she said as she carefully backed the car out of the parking spot.

She could already feel how much more powerful the engine in this car was compared to anything else she had driven. She stopped when she had cleared the space and looked at Quil expectantly until he obediently put the car into drive. She smiled at him excitedly before she suddenly hit the gas and peeled out, rushing down the spiral drive to exit the parking structure. Quil laughed in surprise before she had to slow down as they reached the automatic gate to pay for parking before they could exit. Claire automatically reached down to the floor by Quil's feet since that was where she kept her purse when she drove but found nothing but his long legs.

"Crap. I left my purse in the trunk." she said to Quil who scoffed and said,

"You better run fast to get it… you've got people behind you."

She bit her lip as she looked in the rear-view mirror and then turned to look behind her to see two cars waiting to exit after her. Quil laughed at her as he pulled out his wallet and handed her his Discover card.

"Did you seriously think I was going to make you pay for parking?" He asked as she rolled down the window and stuck it and his parking ticket into the machine.

Claire shrugged as she said, "You were picking _me_ up…" it did seem fair to her that she be the one to pay the eight-dollar fee for parking, especially after he had had to drive two hours to Seattle to begin with.

He just scoffed and rolled his eyes at her like he thought she was ridiculous as the arm in front of the car raised and Claire pulled out.

"Turn right up here. I want to make a stop." He directed her.

"A stop where?" She asked, getting into the turn lane.

She smiled, enjoying controlling the power of the Camaro. She could suddenly understand why Quil would hate driving her Jetta with half the power instead of this muscle car.

"Collin told me about this place a couple blocks away that is supposed to have the best shakes…" he explained as he rolled his window down and rested his arm against the side of the car enjoying the unusually sunny day in Seattle.

"Ooh! That sounds like my kind of place." Claire said as she pulled out again and rushed the car forward more than she intended.

She laughed at the sudden sensation of power as Quil looked at her and smiled in response.

It only took five minutes to reach the hole-in-the-wall diner.

"Just go through the drive thru." Quil said as she pulled into the small parking lot, but she carefully parked the car instead as she asked,

"You don't want to go in?"

"We don't really have time…" he said looking at the clock on the dash that read 4:08.

"Okay." Claire said a little wistfully as she awkwardly wrapped her fingers around the gear shaft and put the car in park before setting the parking brake. Butch immediately leaned forward and started licking her face.

"What are you doing?" He asked in confusion as she went to open her door.

"You'll have to drive… I can't hold a shake and drive at the same time with only one working hand…" she said regretfully.

He laughed at her reasoning as he followed her out of the car and then held the door open for her to get into the passenger seat. He quickly got back into the driver's side and then hit a couple buttons on the side of the door before the seat automatically moved back to his standard position for him to drive.

"There, you're button two, okay?" He said as he pulled out and got in line for the drive thru.

"Hmm?" She asked distracted as she looked for her bag again and came up empty. "Hey babe, would you mind grabbing my purse out of the trunk for me really quick?"

They were waiting behind a full minivan that was ordering in front of them so Quil said, "Yup." before he put the car in park and hoped out to grab her purse while he left the door open before sliding back in seconds later and handing it to her.

"Thank you!" She said gratefully as she started digging through her bag. "What were you saying about my buttons?"

He laughed and said, "No, you're button two. Next time you drive just hit it and the seat'll go back to where you set it." He explained as he pointed toward the button on the door he was referring to.

"That's cool! Thanks!" She said excitedly as she pulled out her chapstick and flipped the visor down to look at herself as she applied it overtop her lipstick and ran a hand through her hair. She turned to see Quil staring at her.

"What?" She asked surprised.

"You're just beautiful." he answered simply like it was obvious as he smiled at her.

She smiled back happily surprised as he pulled the car forward to order.

"You hungry?" He asked her.

"Yeah!" She said surprised. She hadn't realized she was, but she hadn't eaten since breakfast.

Quil laughed before ordering her favorite; bacon cheeseburger with onion rings and a chocolate shake without even bothering to ask what she wanted. She smiled and put her hand on his leg as she leaned back comfortably, and he pulled up behind the van to wait for their food.

"So why don't we have time to go in and eat and then I could drive all the way home?" Claire asked hoping he would change his mind.

"Well, I probably should have told you earlier… but there's a bonfire tonight…" Quil answered.

"There is?" Claire asked surprised since there were usually only pack bonfires a few times a year. "How come? What's going on?" She asked curiously.

"It's for you actually…" he admitted.

"What?" She asked with a laugh.

"You missed the last two… _and_ now that some of the wolves are finding out we're together they all _really_ want to see you…" Quil admitted.

Claire laughed, surprised by how excited she was to see all of her wolf family see hadn't seen in months.

"What time does it start?" She asked.

"Six thirty." Quil said confidently as he let go of her hand on his thigh that he had grabbed onto as he pulled forward and pulled out his wallet.

After they quickly got their food and stopped at a gas station where Butch ran around for a minute while Quil put gas in the car for the two-hour drive home, they ate their food on the road while Quil drove and Claire DJed.

The drive home went by quickly as they ate their food, listened to music and Quil played with Claire's fingers that were wrapped between his while Butch laid quietly in the back seat.

Claire was suddenly hit with a deep feeling of nostalgia as Quil pulled the car up in front of her house. She had texted her dad on the drive to let him know that she had made it alright and that they were on their way home. All the lights were on since it was starting to get dark outside and it looked like everyone was home since the Jetta was parked in front and her mom's car was in the driveway. She gave Quil's hand a squeeze before she turned to him and said cautiously,

"Maybe you should just come back and pick me up for the bonfire."

"What? Why would I do that? We need to leave in like ten minutes and I need to take your bags inside." He answered.

She hesitated for a second before she said, "Okay, but just promise me you'll let _me_ handle this no matter how intense its gets."

He looked at her suddenly concerned. "How intense what gets?"

He reached back up to start the car again like he was debating just taking her away instead of letting her go inside.

"I need to go tell my parents we're dating now…" she admitted.

It was silent for a second as she evaluated his shocked face,

"YOU HAVEN'T TOLD THEM!?"

She bit her lip and just shook her head in response. "I wanted to tell them in person…."

"Claire! We've been dating for weeks now! I've seen them like a bunch of times! ... Well that explains why Robert never pulled me aside to talk about it like I thought he would!" Quil said sounding exasperated.

"Sorry! There just really never seemed like a good time to…. every time I spoke to one of them they were never together and I just kept waiting for it to come up organically…" she explained honestly.

"Claire!" Quil almost whined and she laughed when he threw his head back against his seat and Butch immediately leaned forward and licked his face.

"Just drop me off while I deal with it." Claire suggested.

Quil immediately turned to give her his most exasperated look yet and said, "And leave you to deal with the fall out by yourself? Yeah, that would make me a real man…. I'm not going to do that to you, Claire, I just wish I had been prepared to do this today…. I honestly thought they already knew and were just cool with it…"

Claire gave him a sympathetic look as she squeezed his hand before she followed him out of the car, letting Butch out after her. She walked around to meet him by the trunk where he was pulling her luggage out. She put her hand on his forearm and bit her lip as she looked up at him and softly said,

"Quil?"

He groaned as he looked down at her and said, "What now?" clearly knowing that she wanted something from him.

"It's just …. You can come in with me and all, but… I really think you should let me speak with my parents alone…."

"What? Why!?" He asked shocked and obviously not thrilled with the idea.

"Because they've always viewed you as the adult in our relationship…."

"Right." Quil said like that was obvious.

"And if you're there they'll just hold you responsible instead of viewing it as my choice..." she explained while adding a slight pleading note to her voice.

He seemed obviously conflicted about her request. He just kept staring at her face while he tried to decide. She did her best to keep her face passive but stubborn so he'd know she was being serious without trying to manipulate him.

"You really want to handle it on your own?" He asked her doubtfully.

"Yes! I'm not a kid and I want to answer for my own decisions." She said insistently.

"Okay… if that's what you want… I'll stay out of it…" he said like it went against his better judgement.

"Thank you." She said simply but sincerely.

He nodded and went to move around her to take her bags inside, but she stayed where she was and continued to hold him there with her.

"What?" He asked confused since he had obviously just agreed to give her what she wanted.

"I need you to promise that you won't listen to the conversation…. Go outside if you have to but I don't want you overhearing this…" she told him insistently.

" _Claire_ …." He said desperately like she was asking too much from him.

"Quil..." she said warningly. "I can handle this, and I deserve to have a private conversation about it without you eavesdropping on everything that's being said."

She made sure to maintain direct eye contact with him and stare him down as she looked up at him.

"Fine." He huffed clearly agitated by the agreement.

She smiled brightly at him, relieved that he respected her enough to treat her as an equal instead of like his responsibility.

"Thank you!" She said happily as she placed both of her hands on each side of his jaw and stepped up to him to plant a kiss on his cheek. He just shrugged his shoulders under her as he slowly wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Just relax!" She laughed as she pulled her face back to look at him with his face in her hands but as she looked at him she suddenly felt the same intense fire flare up inside her and then charge between them that had made her attack him and leave two nasty looking hickeys on his neck.

She looked down at his lips that were only inches from her face. She couldn't even think before she started to lean in closer to him, closing the gap between them. He suddenly cleared his throat and looked down as he loosened his hold on her and took a small step back. It broke the spell she seemed to be under as she suddenly remembered her resolve to not push him as she looked down a little embarrassed as she ran a hand through her hair while shoving her purse farther up her shoulder.

She was debating if she should apologize for trying to unexpectedly ambush him again or if addressing their physical relationship would just push him even farther, when he took her hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze as he said,

"Come on, let's go see if Jamie and Rachel want to go to the bonfire."

She looked up and smiled at him in relieve before leading the way up the drive and into the house.

* * *

 ***Author's Note***

 **! Okay! I'm feeling a lot of excitement right now! I love where we're at in the story right here and I'll tell you just between us that Chapters 7-8 are some of my favorites! AND they're coming very soon! I can't wait to hear your reactions! Also on a sidenote, I like to try to stay up with reading FF but it can be a LOT of sorting to find what I'm looking for! So, I'd love it if anyone has any good recommendations! Do you have a favorite FF that I like NEED to be reading!? If so please let me know! Obviously my favorite's are twilight and HP ;P but I'm open to branching out too!**

 **Well have a great rest of your Monday, I hope to hear your reactions soon!**

 **xoxo**


	8. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

As soon as Claire opened the front door she could see everyone in her family busy in the kitchen doing their own various activities while she heard Quil behind her telling Butch to wait outside. Everyone looked over when she opened the door and for a few minutes it was all a flurry of "Claire!" And "Your hair!". "Wow, Claire, you're blonde like Barbie now…" had been Jamie's response after hugging her legs.

She greeted each of her family members with a hug before Quil announced the bonfire in Claire's honor and asked if anyone else wanted to go. Her parents had both worked a full week and politely declined. Rachel had plans already to go out with Travis since it was Friday night, but Jamie was super excited and begged his parents to let him go since they had never let him stay out late enough to attend one before. They agreed he could go if he promised to listen to Quil and Claire when he went. At the point of Jamie flurrying around to pack apparently everything he would need for his first bonfire and Rachel running out the door to meet Travis after she gave Claire a quick kiss on the cheek and promised they'd catch up tomorrow, Claire looked at her parents and asked confidently,

"Dad, can I talk to you in your office for a minute?"

"Sure, Claire-bear." Her dad answered sounding surprised before standing up from the stool at the counter where he was sitting. "You coming, Susan?" He asked of his wife that was staring back and forth suspiciously between Claire and himself.

"Oh, I'm coming" Claire's mother answered immediately.

"Quil, would you grab that quilt out of the closet in my room for me? We can take it to the bonfire to keep Jamie warm." Claire said while giving Quil a significant look to remind him of his promise not to listen in.

He just sighed before he nodded and walked past her to head up the stairs. He reached out and squeezed her arm softly as he went by. Claire followed her dad into his office where her mother followed behind her and quickly shut the door.

"What's going on, Claire?" Her dad asked concerned, surprising her when he sat down on the small love-seat under the window instead of behind his desk like she thought he would.

He gestured for her to come sit with him and she followed and sat down while her mom took one of the two chairs across from the desk and turned so that she was facing the two of them.

"It's nothing bad…." Claire said as she tried to not feel nervous. She wanted to seem as mature as possible, so she took a large breath and decided to just own up to it. "Quil and I have decided to start dating… I just wanted to let you know since it's kind of a big step and I thought you might have concerns you would want to discuss."

"I see." Her father said calmly as her mom said, "No. No way."

Claire took a breath as she tried her best not to be discouraged by her mothers not completely unexpected reaction, it had been the reason she had specifically asked to speak to her father instead of both her parents.

"Susan," her father said reasonably, "this can't be a big surprise to you… we knew this would eventually happen since the moment Quil came into her life…"

"No, I won't allow it… she's too young. He's taking advantage of the situation." Her mother insisted stubbornly.

"Mom, we all know Quil would never take advantage of me…. _I_ want this. I need him in my life… I think everyone can see how much better the two of us do together then when we're apart." Claire said rationally.

Her mother was silent for a moment before her father said,

"When did you decide this, is what I want to know…"

"A few days after I got to Tennessee…" Claire admitted knowing that being honest would be the best way to win her parents trust and respect. "I'm sorry, I should have told you sooner… I just kept telling myself I should wait to tell you both together and in person."

Her father nodded, not seeming surprised before he asked, "So, you haven't seen him since you started dating?"

"Not until he picked me up two and a half hours ago." She answered honestly.

Her father nodded his head and was silent for a second before he asked,

"And you're _just_ dating?"

"What do you mean?" Claire asked confused.

"You're not secretly engaged, or planning to drop out of high school, or pregnant, or anything, are you?" He clarified.

"No! Of course not!" She immediately insisted. "I'm definitely going to finish high school, and I _definitely_ plan on telling you _before_ we decide to get married! And I'm _definitely not pregnant_!"

Her father nodded again as he processed her answer, while her mother added sarcastically, "…Well that's something, at least…."

"Are you sure you're ready for this, Claire? Getting into a relationship with Quil isn't like getting into a relationship with Bennett was. This is a much bigger commitment, you understand that, right?" Her father asked out of obvious concern as they both spoke directly to each other while ignoring her mother's pessimism.

"I understand that…. I just don't want to be with anybody else. Ever. I just want to be with him… I need him… and he makes me happy." She admitted.

"And your ready to leave all of the experiences that a regular high school student that dates other regular high school students has? No dates to Prom or football games or anything else…" her father asked knowingly.

"Yeah," she admitted honestly, "I am… that all seems so trivial in comparison to actually getting to be with my soulmate… I know my experience isn't exactly normal but since when has it ever been? I mean Quil _was_ the one to take me to my first day of kindergarten…." Claire pointed out again as a reminder of just how much his life had always been an integral part of hers. "I don't need any of those experiences… honestly, Dad, I just need him."

Her father seemed to shrug in acceptance of the situation after Claire had addressed his concerns and he seemed satisfied.

"You can't be serious, Robert. She's sixteen!" Her Mother immediately put in.

"Mom…" Claire said trying not to get annoyed.

"I don't see how the right thing to do would be to separate them…" her Dad reasoned. "I'll have to have another talk with him about my expectations and make sure he knows some clear boundaries but honestly, Susan, it's not like we could ever hope for her to be with someone more concerned with doing what's best for her…."

"He's twice her age, Robert!" Her Mom said exasperated.

"Not really when you think about it… he's basically been maturing at the same rate as Claire all of these years… it's not like he's been dating… I mean he didn't even get his GED until he realized Claire would be able to go to college and he wouldn't. He's never been married… he doesn't have children… he's had the same job for over a decade… I mean he's really not that different then he was when we met him at seventeen." He countered.

"That doesn't change his age…he's closer to our age than to hers!" her mother insisted stubbornly,

"So, what are you suggesting they do, Susan?" Her dad asked somewhat reasonably.

Finally, her mother hesitated to respond.

"… I... I don't like this…."

"Mom, there's nothing to be worried about!" Claire tried to assure her, but her mom just seemed agitated. She surprised Claire when she got up quickly and left the room instead of insisting to continue to discuss it further.

Claire quickly turned to look at her father in concern.

"Don't worry, she's really not that shocked…. Honestly, we were a lot more surprised when you started dating Bennett. Your mother just has some of her own…. Issues she's dealing with…" her dad explained.

Claire nodded her head and wondered if she should ask what her mom was dealing with or if she even wanted to know. She figured that her father wouldn't tell her anyways, so she let it drop.

"Alright, Claire, you better send Quil in now…" her father said with a smile.

He clearly enjoyed putting Quil in the hot seat and making him squirm every once in a while.

"Actually, Dad, do you think your talk with him could wait until tomorrow? The bonfire is supposed to start in like twenty minutes and I'm basically the guest of honor or something."

He evaluated her for a minute before he replied, "Sure, but make sure you tell him I'm going to want to talk to him about this… that way he knows it's coming and has to wait until tomorrow to get it over with."

"Dad…. Don't give him such a hard time!" Claire said thinking of his cruelty.

"What Claire? It's good for him! It'll help keep him in line! Besides Quil hasn't really had to answer to anybody for a while and it's good for him to know that he has someone to answer to when it comes to you." He answered.

Claire just shook her head but figured that was his right as her father.

"I love you, daddy!" She said as she stood up and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

"Love you too, Claire-bear! Make sure you are home before midnight and get Jamie situated in bed." He said

"I will." She promised as she backed to the door.

"Hey congrats on the partial cast! It looks much more comfortable than the full one!" He said as he made his way from the loveseat to his desk, already opening his laptop.

"Thanks! It definitely is!" she said brightly before she opened the door and ran out calling goodbye behind her.

She made her way up to her room to find Quil pacing in there while Jamie shoved a pile of his stuff that was on her bed into his backpack.

"How'd it go!?" Quil immediately asked anxiously.

"Jamie, why don't you go out front and see if Butch is ready? I want to talk to Quil for a second and then we'll be right there!" Claire suggested to him.

"Okay, but be quick, alright!?" Jamie answered and then surprised Claire when he gave her a giant squeeze around her legs.

"I missed your bedtime stories Claire-bear! I love you!" He said before he dropped her legs and ran out closing the door behind him before she could respond.

"Aw!" Claire gushed at her little brother's sweet-heartedness.

"Well!?" Quil asked clearly too anxious to be sidetracked.

"It went well! We're all good. They know we're dating and we're in the clear now." She told him.

"Really?" He asked skeptically. "That was _all_ there was to it?"

"Well, my dad wants to have another talk with you… make sure you're clear on boundaries and stuff but yeah that's it…." She answered.

He groaned before saying lifelessly. "He wants to have another talk with me? When? Now?"

"No, tomorrow actually so that we can make it to the bonfire on time."

"Ugh! That's even worse! How am I supposed to relax knowing that's hanging over my head!" He groaned as he sat on her bed and put his hands to his head like it was suddenly pounding.

"I think that's kind of the point actually… he seems to want to make you sweat a bit…. Sorry, Baby…." She sympathized while moving in front of him and trying to massage the stress out of his tight shoulders and doing a much better job with her left hand than with her right working around her cast. He quickly reached out and put his hands on her waist before he pulled her to him as he leaned into her and rested his face against her stomach like he needed her to hold him. She quickly wrapped her arms around him in response. She started running her fingers through his hair as she rubbed his back and tried to smooth him. She could feel him relaxing beneath her touch for a few minutes before he said,

"It's alright… I mean he has every reason to want to talk with me about it… I just wish it didn't freak me out so much!"

Claire chuckled a little and continued to rub his back. It was quiet between them and Claire did her best to sooth him… After a few moments he seemed much less tense and he sat back up before saying,

"Hey, I got you something. I forgot to give it to you in the car."

"You got me something?" She asked in surprise.

"Mm-hmm." He said pulling her down to sit on his lap. "Consider it a welcome home gift mixed with a late Valentine's present."

He pulled out a long, thin, black velvet jewelry box from his back pocket and handed it to her. She took it in her hands but just stared at him in confusion over the unexpected present.

"Open it." He prompted.

She complied and flipped the lid to find a necklace made of a simple gold chain that was connected by a small gold circle in the center with a heart embossed on it that had the letter C etched out in the middle of it. It was beautiful, simple and classy and Claire loved that he could pick something for her that was so perfect for her. It wasn't over the top at all and she could actually wear it everyday.

"A _C_?" She asked thinking that a Q would be more appropriate.

"For Claire." He explained as she nodded.

"I love it, Quil. Thank you!" She told him sincerely.

"You're welcome." He answered lovingly.

"Here help me put it on!" She said eagerly as she took it out of the box.

She wanted so desperately to kiss him after such a loving gesture but was still trying to wait and let him make the first move when he was ready, so she was trying to keep from holding still and looking at him for too long. He took the chain from her and she turned on his lap as she pulled her hair out of the way while he fastened the clasp around her neck.

"I love you, Claire." He said honestly.

She was surprised when it sparked the memory of Bennett whispering the same thing to her in this same room and how she had felt so torn up in that moment because she had always known deep down that it should be Quil with his arms wrapped around her saying he loved her. She smiled at the thought and the peace and surety that filled her when he said it.

"I love you too." She answered sincerely as she fingered her new necklace and leaned her head in against his chest.

She would have liked to stay that way for the rest of the night but then thought about Jamie unsupervised outside with Butch and said,

"Alright, we better get going…. We're going to be late now."

She felt Quil blow out a breath against her as he nodded. She smiled, enjoying being able to feel him do it instead of just hearing it. She got off his lap and stood up to make room for him to get up, but instead he grabbed her arm unexpectedly and pulled her back down, so she was sitting next to him before he wrapped both of his arms around her and fell on the bed taking her with him.

"Let's don't go, let's just stay here tonight." He suggested softly in her ear as he started running his fingers through her hair giving her tingles. She shivered up next to him and was immediately tempted by his offer to stay but said softly,

"We have to, Quil."

"Do we though? It's not like we're the ones that planned it… we aren't even bringing anything, they can still all show up and have a bonfire without us…" he argued as he pulled her tighter into his chest.

She sighed, not wanting to leave either but laughed and said,

"I'm the whole reason that they planned it! So, that they could see me!"

Quil just groaned as his arms that were wrapped all the way around her holding her body to his, flexed in a refusal to let her go. She pulled back against his strong hold just enough to be able to look up at his face a few inches from hers. She brought her hands up to softly touch his face and run them through his hair.

"Come on, I'll tell you what… Let's just go see everyone at the bonfire tonight and then we'll have all weekend to hang out and relax and I'll make sure we get some alone time to enjoy it, alright?" She negotiated knowing that if he kept holding her like that for much longer she would not be able to convince even herself that they should leave and then she would never be able to hold to her resolve to not push him by making the first move to kiss him.

He arched his eyebrow up at her like he was very interested in the idea.

"Alone time, huh?" He asked in a wicked sounding voice before he tickled her waist which made her giggle and shriek as she jerked into him trying to escape his tickles and he immediately tightened his grip around her again, so she couldn't move away from him.

"Alright, I can live with that." He agreed, finally releasing her even as she wanted him to keep holding her tight.

He pulled his hands up and pulled her back so that he could look at her as he ran his hands over her hair and around her face. He was looking at her intensely and she held her breath when she saw him look down at her lips before quickly looking back at her. Her breathless anticipation was so acute it almost felt painful as he started to lean towards her before he seemed to change his mind.

"Come on. Let's go find Jamie and Butch before your mom decides to come up here. I just heard her ask your dad where we are…" he said regretfully as he sat up.

Claire blew out a disappointed breath before she got up and rolled off the bed. She went to her closet and grabbed the quilt that she had sent him upstairs to get, the one Quil's grandmother had made for her when she was little, and quickly followed him out of the room. She was careful to avoid any physical contact with him as they went downstairs, thinking uncomfortably about how her dad had asked if she was pregnant. She was suddenly grateful she had forced Quil not to listen in and that he hadn't overheard that particular part of the conversation. He took the quilt from her arms and reached out for her hand. She gave his hand a tight squeeze before she pulled hers away and shook her head slightly at him right before they came into her parent's eye line.

"Okay! We'll be back by midnight!" She said as she reached her mom and bent slightly to kiss her mom's cheek since her mom was a couple inches shorter than she was. She reached her dad a minute later who returned her kiss on the cheek and said,

"Have fun, keep an eye on Jamie!"

"We will!" She assured them as she followed Quil to the door fighting the urge to grab onto his arm.

"We'll talk tomorrow, Quil." Her dad told him happily.

"Yup." Quil agreed a little stoically before saying, "Have a goodnight!"

He held the door open for Claire and followed her out to find Jamie kneeling on the front lawn with Butch mercilessly licking his face while he giggled uncontrollably.

Claire laughed before she stopped to quickly snapped a picture on her phone, the photo was so adorable she immediately set it as her home screen before breaking up the moment by saying,

"Alright! Ready to go? We're running a little late, so we need to hurry but did you remember to use the bathroom before we go?"

"Mmm yeah…" Jamie said vaguely without looking at her.

"Jamie….?" Claire said warningly.

He blew out a sigh before he admitted, "No, but I don't need to go…"

"You better go now, Bud…. Claire got mad the last time I let you pee in the woods, remember?" Quil reasoned with him.

Claire just chuckled and rolled her eyes at the two as Jamie ran into the house to use the bathroom before they left.

"It looks like Rachel didn't take the Jetta… we'd better take it since it's got Jamie's booster and we have Butch too." Claire reasoned.

Quil twisted his face unenthusiastically at the idea. Claire laughed and said,

"Come on, I'll drive… you can just stare at my beautiful face the whole time!" She teased him.

He chuckled and pulled her close as he said, "Well, I can't argue with that!" and planted a kiss on her cheek before he sighed and said, "Go grab the keys."

Claire nodded and held tightly to her resolve as she pulled away forcing herself to look away from him instead of taking advantage of the unexpected moment alone with him. She ran into the house and past Jamie who was on his way back out. She told him to wait with Quil as she ran up the stairs and into Rachel's room. She quickly found the keys to the car they shared on her desk next to the latest issue of the manga series Rachel had introduced Claire to. It had come out while Claire was away, and she knew that Rachel had already read the entire thing, so she took it with her and shoved the heavy novel into her purse to read later as she ran back out of the house hoping that her parents would take advantage of their own unexpected alone time to hopefully try to fix things between the two of them.

The drive down to La Push went by quickly with Jamie laughing from the backseat and chattering to Claire as she drove about all the things she had missed even though he had already told her everything over the phone. When they pulled up to First Beach there was already a large fire burning down on the edge of the beach close to the cliffs with what seemed to be the rest of the pack and their families spread over the beach and around the fire.

"Alright, Jamie," Claire turned around to look directly at him in his booster car seat after she had parked and turned off the car. Quil had been about to get out but stopped to hear what she was about to say in her warning tone. "Here's the deal; you need to stay where you can always both hear and see either me or Quil. Don't get too close to the fire. _Don't_ throw anything into it… and don't touch the water… got it?"

Jamie looked solemnly at her before he said, "I promise, Claire."

"Okay, good! Then let's go have some fun!" Claire said brightly as she and Quil got out.

She was opening the door for Butch to hop out while Quil helped Jamie out as she heard a voice call loudly,

"Hey! Quil and Claire are finally here you guys!"

It was said to the group as a whole from a woman's voice but Claire wasn't sure whose, maybe Emily or Leah since their voices were similar.

Quil made eye contact with her over the car before he smiled and asked quietly,

"You ready for this?"

Claire smiled back at him. "Definitely." she answered confidently.

She and Butch were just meeting Jamie and Quil around the other side of the car when they were met by what seemed like every imprint, and hugs were exchanged all around as there was lots of… "Claire!" "Oh, I love your hair!" "What a cute car! Is that yours!?" "Claire, you look so grown up! You need to not spend so much time away!" ….from Emily, Kim, Sofia, Rachel, Arabella, Tara and even Leah and some of the children who had come to greet them as well. Claire laughed and hugged people and tried to answer questions as quickly as they were being asked.

"Jamie! Don't forget what I said!" She yelled warningly as he ran off down the beach with Butch and the other kids.

She made eye contact with Quil and they smiled at each other as he made his way down to the fire to greet Sam, Jared, Seth, Paul and Embry where they were sitting talking to each other with beers in their hands. She made her way slowly following behind him surrounded by her sisterhood of fellow imprints.

"So, Claire! Jacob mentioned that you and Quil might be together now!?" Kim asked her so quietly that all of the women had to lean in to hear her since they all knew how sensitive the men's hearing was down by the fire. Claire looked up at Aunt Emily who was giving her a surprised and questioning look.

Claire laughed and shrugged a little before she said, "Yeah… we are now…"

Leah said, "Finally! I never thought the day would come!"

Claire just rolled her eyes at her as Kim squealed quietly, she was always a hopeless romantic.

"So, how did it happen!?" Kim asked excitedly, still whispering.

The small group of women had stopped walking and were huddle together between cars fifty yards from the group of their men by the fire.

"Um…" Claire hesitated not sure what she should share. "Well… when I left for Tennessee, he dropped me off at the airport and told me he was in love with me… after that it wasn't long before we were together…."

Kim gave another small squeal as the other women sighed softly. "Aw, that's a good story! At the airport and everything!"

Claire laughed as she nodded, and Sofia asked her excitedly, "So, are you guys going to officially announce it tonight!?"

Traditionally any big news for individual wolves was announced at bonfires.

"No! It's not that big a deal… we're just dating… it's not like we're engaged or something!" Claire answered quickly thinking that it really didn't require a public group announcement that she and Quil now referred to each other with boyfriend and girlfriend titles.

"Yeah, but this is how it all starts, Claire!" Emily said happily, and Claire smiled at her before Kim gushed, "You two will have such beautiful children!"

Claire's eyes immediately got huge in shock and slight fear. She knew that all her future plans were with Quil, including marriage and children, but she didn't like the idea of other people already speculating on their future kids like it was an inevitable thing only minutes away from happening.

"Alright! You're freaking her out now!" Leah said coming to Claire's rescue. "Let's go back to the party already!"

Claire sighed, relieved as she grabbed on to Leah's arm gratefully as everyone else made their way back to the group around the fire.

"So, that's what was going on with you and Quil that you never bothered to call and tell me about!" Leah accused as they slowly made their way behind the rest of the group.

"Yeah, sorry… I just got busy!" Claire admitted apologetically.

Leah just shrugged and brush a hand aside like it didn't matter as she smiled happily which completely surprised Claire who had expected her to be much more irritable about it than she was being. Now that Claire was looking at her she realized that she had never seen Leah looking so happy and content before.

"Well look at you!" Claire noted at her happy demeanor. "Is this about that new man _you_ never bothered to call and tell _me_ about?"

Leah shrugged as she grinned happily. "He's not so new actually…" she said suggestively.

Claire immediately stopped and pulled Leah's arm back to look directly at her in concern as she asked,

"What!? Eww, Leah, please tell me you aren't becoming a gold digger dating some ancient old man because he has a beard!?"

"What!?" Leah laughed, "NO! I just mean he's not new to the group!"

Claire looked at her in surprise and confusion before Leah turned her head and nodded suggestively toward the group of wolves closest to them. Claire looked over to see Brady, Bennett, and Collin all laughing and talking over the cooler by the fire. Claire gasped and asked,

"Collin!?"

Leah just bit her lip and nodded her head.

"Well I'll be damned." Claire said quietly. Cursing was something she almost never did but she was so shocked she didn't know how else to express it. "When did that happen?"

"After his accident." Leah admitted. "Jacob and Quil wouldn't let him be alone that first week and we were spending all this time together… I dunno, I think we were both just sick of being the loners in the group waiting around for an imprint that might never happen and then that week he didn't shave and grew out his beard….." she said wistfully as Claire laughed knowing exactly what she was referring to. She shoved at her gently as she said,

"Oh Leah! _You_ would!"

Leah suddenly looked nervous as she asked, "You don't think it's an incredibly stupid idea, do you? I mean I am like five or six years older than him or something and we all know sometimes he's the world biggest idiot…."

"Psh!" Claire scoffed. "No, Leah, I actually think it's a great idea… I never would have thought of it, but I can really see you guys together now… your age difference is literally nothing compared to me and Quil… or even Jake and Nessie… and you can _both_ be huge idiots sometimes, but who knows… maybe you'll keep each other in line." Claire told her honestly.

Leah looked relieved and gave her a big hug before she said bracingly, "Okay good! You're literally the first person I've told, and we were planning on announcing it tonight but suddenly I just panicked that this was a terrible idea!"

Claire laughed before she asked, "Does he make you happy, Leah?"

Leah smiled hugely and bit her lip before she nodded wordlessly. "I never would have expected _Collin_ to be the guy to make me feel complete but…."

"Then it's perfect." Claire told her confidently as she grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Thanks, Claire." Leah said appreciatively before they made their way to the group a few yards from where they stopped to have their quiet conversation.

They reached Brady, Collin, and Bennett first since they were on the outskirts of the group by the fire next to the cooler. Claire noticed Macy sitting in a folding chair by the fire alone and watching Bennett closely from behind.

"Hey, Claire! Long time, no see!" Brady was the first to greet her enthusiastically.

She reached up to hug him and kiss him with her cheek pressed to his, as she said, "Hey, Brady! Good to see you!"

Collin came up to her next, he wrapped his arms all the way around her before he squeezed her so tightly she thought her ribs might pop while he lifted her off her feet. Claire had always thought that Collin was actually the closet thing to being an (annoying) older brother she'd ever had.

"Hey, Mrs. Alpha" he teased her as he set her back down and used his hand on her waist to tickle her slightly.

She reached up to press her face to his and kiss at his cheek too before she responded, "Hey, Mr. She-wolf!" with a slap to his gut. He laughed at her response while Bennett and Brady looked over at him in confusion.

She turned to greet the next wolf in line and paused when she realized it was Bennett. Claire was suddenly relieved to find that the feeling of peace she had found to replace her heartache in Tennessee, was still there as Bennett said excitedly, "Hey, Claire!" and bent to give her a hug.

She returned it and squeezed him sincerely as she kissed his cheek the same as Brady's and Collin's.

"I like the hair… very Malibu Barbie!" he teased as she pulled back and he pulled his hand down softly on the end of her hair. She laughed and said,

"Well, you know me… Malibu was my favorite Barbie!"

She noticed Leah move surreptitiously around Bennett to stand next to Collin and Claire winked at her covertly before she saw Macy moving to get up out of her chair and realized by the look on her face she had watched the whole exchange and was coming over to join them.

"Well, it looks great, Claire." Brady told her kindly and she smiled at him as Collin said, "Yeah, it's hella hot." Claire laughed as Leah immediately slapped at his chest with the back of her hand and Collin responded, "What!? It was a compliment!" just as Macy came to stand next to Bennett wrapping her arm possessively through his that was holding his drink. Claire took a breath to brace herself slightly as she put on her best smile and turned to say as kindly as she could,

"Hey, Macy! How are you?"

"Hey, Claire! Never satisfied with just one wolf I see, got to kiss them all, right!?" she responded sounding almost casual.

She said it like it was a joke, but it was clear she didn't think it was actually funny and the atmosphere around the small group immediately felt tense and defensive when no one laughed.

Claire forced a small chuckle and shrugged before she put a hand on Brady's arm next to her and smiled at him as she said, "What can I say, their just all some really good-looking guys!"

Everyone chuckled at Claire's response as she looked across the fire and made eye contact with Quil who could clearly hear the entire conversation along with the rest of the wolves in the vicinity. He looked frustrated before raising his eyebrows at her as he silently asked if she wanted him to come over. He was standing next to Sam who had obviously noticed the exchange and was staring between Quil and Claire looking like he was waiting for him to intervene. Claire just shook her head slightly at the both of them, knowing that it would just blow up into an angry scene if he tried to defend her instead of just letting her brush it off.

"Careful, Claire. I'm sure Sofia wouldn't be happy to hear you say that about _her_ man…" Macy said with the same false air of good-nature.

"Naw, Sofia would always trust me with someone as sweet as our little Claire!" Brady insistently defender her before he wrapped his arms around her and planted a big kiss on Claire's cheek like he was proving a point about her kissing wolves.

"Thanks, Brady!" Claire said quietly as she smiled at him.

She decided to focus on the sincere compliment Brady had just paid her, both with what he had said and how he had said it to defend her instead of focusing on Macy's stinging remarks.

He returned her smile while Collin and Leah smiled at her in silent encouragement to her, communicating that none of them bought into Macy's comments.

"Well, all I'm saying is I wouldn't leave Bennett alone with you if that's how friendly you are with _non-ex's_." Macy replied unfazed.

Claire couldn't even bring herself to look over and see Bennett's reaction as he said softly but insistently, "Macy!"

Claire could feel the groups silent frustration on her behalf extending as far out as all of the older wolves around the fire like Paul, Jared, Seth and Sam. Claire was still looking away but heard Macy defend, "What? I'm just joking around, _everyone_ knows you dated…" like Bennett was overreacting as Claire looked up and gave Quil a severe warning look when he took a step toward them.

"No, Macy, you're right. Bennett was a great boyfriend, no regrets there. You're lucky to have him!" Claire responded sincerely, trying to rise above and hopefully let Bennett off the hot seat of feeling like he had to defend her.

Claire thought that if she could seem comfortable with the situation it would make everyone else more comfortable with it too. Bennett looked at her gratefully before giving her a huge smile that unfortunately Macy noticed.

"Wow! Seriously!? MOVE ON already, Claire!" Macy snapped as she dropped Bennett's arm and folded her arms defensively across her chest.

" _OKAY!_ " Brady said clearly uncomfortable.

They now had the attention of the entire group around the bonfire instead of just the wolves with their sensitive hearing. "Claire, you want a beer?" Brady asked as he pulled one out of the cooler and handed it to her clearly trying to change the subject as Claire watched Quil walk towards her and knew there was no way that any look she gave him would stop him this time. She didn't even care, she wanted him next to her. She felt like she had taken enough hits without lashing back to leave her shaking and trying to not become so angry she cried.

She forced herself to shake it off as Quil came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist being both subtly comforting and protective. She looked at the beer in her hand that she had automatically accepted. She was about to open it, thinking she could just have half to shake off the interaction with Macy and then give the rest to Quil when Leah slapped Brady's chest the same way she had slapped Collin's and said,

"You just called her _'Our Little Claire'_ and now you're gonna give her her first beer!?"

"What!? Oh! My bad! Claire, you just look so much older, I completely forgot you aren't twenty-one!" Brady apologized at the same time Quil scoffed out a laugh in response to Leah's comment that cause everyone to look at him and Claire.

"Um, it's not actually my _first_ beer, per say." Claire explained in response, "And thanks, Brady… normally I would-" Quil laughed at her again knowing what would happen if she drank it. "I was just going to drink half of it!" she insistently defended to him as the group laughed. " _But_ I have Jamie with me tonight, so I better not!" she said reaching to hand it back to Brady, but Collin took it and said,

"Well, I'm not under twenty-one, or babysitting!" as he popped the top before he leaned over the cooler and around Quil to kiss her pointedly on the cheek.

After that she moved with Quil away from the group and toward the bonfire and the 'retired' wolves. She noticed that each of the them (Sam, Jared, Seth, Embry and Paul) greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and a hug which wasn't exactly unusual except for the fact that for the rest of the evening it seemed like anytime any of the wolves interacted with her they would kiss her… even when she handed Seth the ketch-up next to her that he had asked for and he said, "Thanks, Claire." before planting a loud one on her cheek and making her blush. Even Leah kept kissing her like proof that all of the wolves felt comfortable kissing Claire. The only exception was obviously Bennett who seemed to be keeping Macy as alienated from Claire and the group as he could.

Claire was surprised by how easily she managed to brush off the nasty incident with Macy and actually have a good time, but she received so much love and attention from her wolf family that she couldn't help but enjoy herself, especially since Quil seemed so happy and at home whenever he was with his pack like this and Jamie was ecstatic, running up and down the beach with Butch and the other kids and making smores when he finally started to get tired. She did notice though that Macy seemed to be pointedly drinking a can of beer and that she kept shooting her darker and darker looks as the night wore on, but Claire just tried to avoid looking at her as much as possible.

It was around ten-thirty and dark and cold with everyone relaxed and huddled in a loose circle around the large fire that Jared and Sam kept going and Kim was singing the Quileute tribal songs that she knew best since she was the only imprint that was actually Quileute. Claire was sitting in Quil's arms with his legs on either side of her as she leaned back against his chest while Jamie was asleep in her lap somehow still tucked into his Spiderman sleeping bag he had brought in his backpack and his arms wrapped around Claire's waist, holding onto her while he slept. They were sitting on the quilt they had brought, and Butch was curled up next to Quil's left leg where Claire had her arm wrapped lovingly over his thigh and a hand resting on Butch's neck.

She was feeling warm and content with Quil's arms folded across her chest, she would have been cold without a jacket except that Quil was still only wearing his grey t-shirt and Claire was kept warm by his high body temperature radiating off his skin while sitting in his embrace close to the fire. She felt so blessed to have such an amazing extended family who had adopted and accepted her in, years ago, as a child.

It had been a big night for news; Leah and Collin _had_ announced that they were together to the overall surprise and general ribbing of the group, Brady and Sofia had even announced that they had gotten engaged on Valentine's Day and wanted to get married that summer before Sofia's fall semester started. Embry and Arabella even announced that they were pregnant with their second child. The whole bonfire had been an exciting and joyful experience from beginning to end with a general atmosphere of celebration spread through the group.

Claire was saddened to think she had missed the last two gatherings. Especially since Jake and Renesmee had been at the annual Christmas bonfire and Jake was at the last one and they had told their tribal heritage stories which was always Claire's favorite part, especially since Quil was one of the tribal elders now. It always gave her goosebumps to see him sitting in his grandfather's place on the council as they told their sacred stories.

She brought her casted right hand up from Jamie's back to rubbed Quil's arm and hand on her chest as she smiled and sighed contentedly. She felt his arms suddenly tighten protectively around her and heard what could only be described as a threatening growl rip from deep in his throat. Butch's head immediately came up and he growled in response. Clearly Butch felt that if Quil deemed something was threatening Claire, it was his job to defend her as well. Claire looked in shock at the direction that Quil was aiming his growl and saw the very end of Macy's _DARKLY_ significantlook Quil had obviously noticed her giving to Claire before she looked away like she was shocked that she had been caught in the act.

She was sitting with Bennett less than ten feet away from Claire and Quil, in folding chairs in front of the fire while they held hands, with only Sam, Emily and their three kids sitting on a blanket between them. Claire had been surprised when they had chosen to sit so close instead of on the other side of the fire as far from them as possible. Now she figured it was because Macy wanted to keep an eye on her and give her angry looks because she could dare to be happy now after she had been in love with Bennett.

There was a sudden tension amongst everyone around the fire in response to Quil's growl. He was still staring warningly at Bennett like he better take care of this before he did himself, and he was still sitting forward in a very protective posture with his arms still flexed around Claire.

Claire saw Bennett stand up and hold his hand out to Macy while he said something she couldn't hear. It was clear he wanted to pull her away from the fire, but Macy seemed hesitant as she grabbed his hand and he practically dragged her away to walk down the cold beach as Quil growled softly but warningly again.

"Quil…" Claire said softly trying to calm him. He ignored her and continued to stare after them retreating down the beach.

"What's her problem!?" Collin asked rhetorically, clearly irritated from where he was sitting with his arms around Leah.

Claire knew what Macy's obvious problem was but chose to ignore the group as a whole and focus on Quil who seemed to be getting more upset with each step Macy and Bennett took away from them instead of calming down in their absence.

"Quil!" She insisted as she grabbed at the side of his face with her open left hand and forced him to look down at her in his arms. She could see the anger and frustration burning in his eyes as she said calmly,

"Let it go, she's not worth it."

He sucked in a breath like he was about to argue it with her, but she put a hand on his mouth and said warningly, "Quil…. Don't ruin the night for everyone… it's a good night! Brady and Sofia are getting married and Leah and Collin…. Embry and Arabella's baby….." She faded off suggestively but happily.

He blew out a breath and nodded his head in agreement before he took another breath and obviously forced himself to be calm. Claire laughed at his reaction before he looked at her with a smile at the sound of her laughter and she said sincerely.

"Thank you!"

"Anything for you." He replied kissing her forehead.

She smiled happily and pulled back to look at him as she rubbed the side of his face that was in her hand. He grinned back at her before his breath seemed to catch in his throat. Claire was about to look at him in concern until she saw the way he was looking at her like he was in disbelieve that she was really there in his arms with him.

Claire had never felt as beautiful as she did in that moment that he was looking at her like he couldn't believe she was even real. Her breath caught in her own throat in response. She was twisted at an odd angle to look at him behind her while he held her, but she couldn't move while she was caught in the intense moment. She was surprised when he looked down at her lips and then started to lean into her, convinced that he still wasn't ready to take that step now that they were officially dating, and it felt more significant. But he kept coming and she certainly wasn't going to stop him as she closed her eyes and held on tight to Jamie as she tightened her hold on Quil with her left hand before his lips suddenly met hers somehow softly yet aggressively.

It was strange how everything around Claire went silent the moment their lips touched, her eyes were closed but she was convinced that even if they were open she wouldn't be able to see anything around her. She had been holding onto the back of Jamie's sleeping bag but couldn't feel anything besides Quil's surprisingly soft lips and his arms wrapped around her. She couldn't even feel his scruffy stubble against her hand, she could only feel the spots where _he_ was touching her.

Her head seemed to spin for a moment as her lips moved against his of their volition. Out of all of his protective posture of her that evening, his kiss somehow felt the most possessive. It felt like he was claiming her and everything inside her seemed to be screaming excitedly in response. She was completely lost in him and his kiss while the world stopped around her until she heard a whistle directed at them and gained back enough awareness to hear some cheers and catcalling around the circle. She quickly pulled away from him after realizing they had an audience. Everyone laughed when Quil tried to follow her lips as she pulled back instead of letting the kiss end. She cleared her throat and tucked her head against Quil's arms in embarrassment as Collin announced loudly,

"Well, in case you didn't know…. Quil and Claire finally got together!"

Everyone chuckled and even cheered as Claire blushed and smiled happily up at Quil. He just scoffed out a small laugh as he rolled his eyes and pulled a hand that had been wrapped around her chest up to the side of her head where he pulled her in and kissed it the way he always did before tucking her tight back into his chest as she turned around to face the fire again and noticed that Jamie was still asleep in her lap. She was suddenly grateful he hadn't woken up to witness the passionate moment between her and Quil that she had never meant to have in front of the small audience around the fire… even if they _were_ her family.

* * *

 ***Author's Note***

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter. It makes my heart happy! ;) Life is particularly busy right now for me but I'm hoping to have the next chapter up in the next day or two! Let me know what you think! Lots of love!**

 **xoxo**


	9. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

It seemed that most of the group around the fire had actually been waiting for the official announcement and unplanned public display of affection between Quil and Claire. As soon as the cheering and ribbing was over every one of the wolves that had a family and kids seemed to pack up to go. Claire had wondered why so many parents with small children had stayed so late and blushed when she realized they had all wanted to see and hear for themselves the proof that she and Quil were really together after so many years of waiting to see how and when it would happen.

Claire wasn't eager to move yet since she didn't want to wake Jamie up, and she was so comfortable and satisfied between Quil's warm, loving arms. They waved their goodbyes to the individual families as they packed up and left but stayed behind with the now smaller group around the fire of Brady and Sofia, and Collin and Leah who all moved in closer to talk with them quietly.

Claire couldn't tell if Macy and Bennett had taken the opportunity to leave yet but saw their camping chairs still sitting ten feet away from her and figured they'd probably have taken them with them if they had left already. Once Leah and Sofia moved to sit on the quilt next to her Quil quickly kissed the side of her head before loosening his arms and pulling back as he whispered softly in her ear,

"Hey, Baby, I'll be right back."

She turned to give him a questioning look, surprised he would choose to leave her. But he just squeezed her shoulder before standing up and casually walking away toward the direction of the cooler.

Leah had just asked Sofia something about her and Brady's upcoming wedding and Sofia started to gush out details to the two of them while Claire held Jamie asleep in her lap and ran her hand softly through his hair. Claire seemed to lose track of Quil as she happily listened to Sofia's plans while Brady and Collin joked around together a few yards away while drinking their beers by the fire.

"So, what do you think, Claire? Would you be comfortable with that?" Sofia said suddenly dragging her out of her distracted search for Quil a few minutes later.

"I'm sorry, what?" She apologized focusing back on the conversation.

Sofia seemed nervous as she repeated, "I was just asking if you and Leah would be willing to be my bridesmaids?"

"You want me to be your bridesmaid!?" Claire asked shocked and flattered. She exchanged a look with Leah that told her Leah was sharing her sentiments.

"Yeah! Brady's already asked Collin to be his best man, and I know he wants Quil to stand up with him too, so it just makes sense!" Sofia explained quickly.

"Oh, well Sofia," Leah immediately argued reasonably, "You don't have to have us as bridesmaids just because our boyfriends are groomsmen, plus what about your older sister!?"

Claire nodded in agreement since she had had the same concerns.

"Oh no! I _want_ you two to be my bridesmaids! We're kind of all sisters now and I've always felt close to you both! And my older sister will be my Maid-of-Honor anyways so there is still plenty of room for you girls if you'd be willing to stand up with me!" Sofia insisted.

Claire smiled gratefully as she reached out her casted right hand to lay on top of Sofia's hands folded in her lap with her back to the fire as she said, "Sofia! I feel the same way about you! I'd _LOVE_ to be a bridesmaid!"

Leah just coughed roughly like she was getting uncharacteristically emotional before she nodded emphatically as her only response.

Sofia beamed for a second before she said, "Alright, I'll text you both about potential dress fittings within the next few weeks! The wedding is in less than six months!"

"Well let us know what we can do to help!" Claire offered excitedly before Leah said, "Yeah, I'm thinking bachelorette party in Vegas!"

Sofia laughed and then surprised Claire when she said, "I was actually thinking the same thing!"

Sofia was usually a little reserved and Claire hadn't been expecting her to want to go along with whatever wild and slightly raunchy plan Leah would come up with. Sofia suddenly looked directly at her in concern and said,

"Only you're not even eighteen, Claire! Would you even be able to come?"

Claire smiled at the thought before she said, "Well Quil wouldn't love it, but I don't care! You say the day and I'll be there, fake ID and all, ready to hit the tables!"

"Quil wouldn't love what now!?" Quil himself surprised her by asking as he sat back down behind her and wrapped his arms around her again.

"Claire getting wild at Sofia's Vegas bachelorette party!" Leah answered in her usual fashion as Claire ducked her head and blushed.

Quil pulled back to look at Claire with a look of impressed surprise on his face as he said, "I think that's something I actually want to see!"

At the same time Brady asked, "Sofia's _what_ bachelorette party!?" from fifteen feet away where he had clearly overheard.

"Thanks, Leah! So much for low key!" Sofia muttered darkly while Leah laughed before they both stood up to join Brady and Collin by the fire that was slowly dying down leaving Claire and Quil alone with a sleeping Jamie.

It was quiet between the two of them for a moment while Quil wrapped his arms tighter around her and Claire snuggled deep into his chest. She started humming softly to Jamie while she rubbed his back since he had started to stir when Sofia and Leah had gotten up.

"So, Vegas huh?" Quil said teasingly.

"That sounds like the plan…." Claire said vaguely.

"And you have a fake ID?" He asked suggestively.

"You weren't actually supposed to hear about that…." She admitted thinking of the ID that Sarah had gotten for her to sneak her into dance clubs in Tennessee.

He just laughed and pulled her to the side until he could see her face.

"Hi." She said softly while looking up at him.

"Hi." He replied happily before he pulled her in again to seemingly finish the kiss she had cut off earlier.

Her head was spinning again and her ears were ringing by the time he let her pull away a few moments later. She placed her forehead against his as she tried to slow her pounding heart, but Quil had pull his hand up to the side of her face and was stroking her hair from the side of her head to behind her ear in a way that was not helping to calm her pulse.

"Hi." He said again softly.

"You already said that." She laughed breathlessly.

She could hear Brady and Sofia still talking to Collin and Leah quietly on the other side of the fire and Jamie was still asleep in her lap and it was dark and quiet, so the moment felt intimate and private even with the other people around not paying attention to the two of them together.

"Well, did I tell you yet how much I missed you?" He asked in a rough whisper.

She smiled with her eyes closed and her forehead still pressed breathlessly to his. "I don't think you did actually…."

"Well…" he said suggestively before he surprised her when he held tight to the side of her face he had be stroking and brought his lips back to hers.

She felt light headed when he pulled back a minute later and realized that she had completely stopped breathing the entire time he was kissing her. He had this way of making her feel like she had never been kissed before. It was like a completely new and overwhelming experience.

He cleared his throat and his voice was rough again when he said, "…. Does that make it any clearer?"

She nodded her head wordlessly as she swallowed. "Yeah, a bit…" she said breathlessly.

He chuckled and she asked in surprise, "You aren't mad?"

"About the fake ID?" He asked as he pressed his forehead back to hers again.

She nodded again as she closed her eyes and breathed in the feeling of him close. It was almost overwhelming for her. Everything about him was overwhelming to her. She had known him almost her entire life and yet suddenly sitting so close to him with him kissing her like _that_ she felt she could never have been prepared for the effect he was having on her.

He scoffed before he said, "Six months ago I probably would have been pissed, but now…." He shrugged his shoulders carelessly, "Now I've completely given up on acting like you're your real age…. It's probably better for me if we keep pretending like your twenty-one anyways. So, I'm fine with you going to Vegas just as long as I can come too."

She pulled back and opened her eyes to smile brightly at him before she leaned back in to kiss him again but pulled back suddenly when the soft Washington drizzle that had started a few minutes earlier started turning into a full downpour.

"Eh!" She squeaked quietly as she tried to cover Jamie before he woke up.

"I'll grab him!" Quil said with a laugh as he reached around her to pull Jamie up on his shoulder as he stood up. "Grab the quilt! Butch, come on!" He said already making his way quickly to the car.

"What about the fire!?" She asked concerned as she hurried to catch up with him while using the quilt she had grabbed off the ground to shield herself from the rain.

"Collin! Make sure you put it out!" Quil called behind him authoritatively as he grabbed Claire's hand before running for the car fifty yards away.

Claire heard Collin curse behind her in response as everyone else (including Leah) ran for cover.

Claire let go of Quil to dig for the keys in her pocket and hit the button to unlock the car just as they reached it. She run around to the far side of the car and threw the quilt down on the seat before letting Butch jump in. He immediately laid across the backseat and put his head on Jamie's lap who was somehow miraculously still asleep despite his now wet hair from the heavy rain. Quil buckled his seatbelt around him as Claire noticed he was still in his sleeping bag that must have kept him warm and dry.

"Just get in, I'll drive!" Quil called loudly to her over the rain when they looked at each other over top of the car as they both pulled out from the backseat at the same time while shutting the doors closed behind them.

Claire nodded, thinking that would be best since it was dark, and rain was pouring down hard. She knew that Quil had beyond perfect vision and could see almost perfectly in the dark, so it made much more sense for him to drive than for her to endanger everyone.

They ran quickly past each other in front of the car before they both hopped in slamming the doors shut behind them. Claire sighed, relieved to be out of what felt like freezing sleet coming down. Quil laughed at her reaction before he held out his hands for the keys to start the car. She pulled them out of her pocket and turned to glance at him as she put them in his hand. His grey t-shirt was wet on his shoulders and dripping all the way down to his back and stomach, sticking to his chest while cutting out every one of his well-defined muscles. He quickly grabbed at the front of it and pulled it away from his skin before releasing it again so that it snapped right back into place.

Claire bit her lip and turned to look forward out the dark windshield. She was relieved when the dome light, that had turned on when they opened the doors, turned off leaving them in darkness so she couldn't see him anymore …. until he put the key in the ignition and started the car so that the dash lights turned on giving off a modicum of light. She hoped that he wouldn't notice that she was blushing and biting down on her lip harder than usual.

She was hot and embarrassed by her reaction to him. She thought back to a few weeks ago when she had told Leah that she was 'sixteen, not blind' to Quil's level of attraction. She definitely knew that she didn't need to be twenty-one to appreciate all that Quil could offer.

She shivered from the cold since she was still only wearing the sweater from her flight that the other Claire had tugged down to reveal more cleavage and was now slightly wet. She used the opportunity to shake her head clear from the image of Quil's body and the sudden desire to see more of it.

"You okay?" he asked concerned as he pulled out from the beach.

He hit the seat warmer button for her before wrapping his arm around her shoulders to warm her.

"Mm-hmm." She hummed not trusting herself to actually speak since she knew her shaky voice would instantly make him aware she wasn't her normally composed self.

She took in a deep breath and relaxed into his arm while he drove before she reached a hand out to rest on his leg like she had done that afternoon. She really liked being able to casually touch him in possessive and loving ways she never had before. She rubbed her hand softly against his thigh while she sighed and closed her eyes as she leaned back against the seat back with his arm still around her.

It was quiet and peaceful as the car warmed up and Claire took the opportunity to replay the night back in her mind and found herself feeling completely contented despite Macy's aggressively abrasive attitude towards her. She smiled to herself before Quil tugged softly on her hair and asked,

"What's up, Nino?"

She rolled her eyes at the nickname but said happily, "Nothing, just thinking about tonight."

"Thinking what about tonight?" he asked warily clearly thinking of Bennett and Macy.

Claire just brushed her hand aside in the air like she thought nothing of them before she said happily, "Oh, just about Brady and Sofia's wedding and Embry and Arabella's baby."

She looked over to see him nod before he swallowed. It was quiet for a moment and Claire could hear Jamie's soft breathing in the backseat and the soft doggy snore that meant Butch must have fallen asleep on his lap. She closed her eyes and leaned back against Quil's arm again before he asked,

"That's something you want? To get married and have a lot of kids?"

Claire's head snapped up and her eyes opened as she heard Kim's voice in her head saying again, _'You two will have such beautiful children!'_ after her dad had already asked her if she was secretly engaged or pregnant.

"No! It's not!" she snapped quickly without thinking about it.

He turned to give her a surprised and disbelieving look.

"No! … Well _yes, obviously_ I eventually want those things, but I don't want them now! I feel like everyone keeps assuming I wanted to date an older guy so I could get married and pop one out of the oven immediately! Sheesh, I mean I can barely legally drive… I just had my first beer like three weeks ago… I'm not looking to drop out of high school and pop out one baby after another for the next ten years, so I can have twelve kids before I'm even twenty-five!" she huffed insistently and almost angrily.

She was happy for Arabella and Sofia, but Sofia was twenty and Arabella almost thirty and though she did eventually want what they now had she certainly wasn't jealous or overeager to get it. She took a large breath to try to calm herself as she realized that Quil's honest question might not have called for that strong of a reaction.

"Who's 'everyone'?" Quil asked concerned and confused.

Claire just shrugged as she bit her lip. She already regretted her little irrational outburst.

"Claire?" Quil asked.

"It doesn't matter… I was just overthinking it is all." She blew out a small breath before she answered calmly, "To answer your question; yes, I do eventually want to get married and have children… is that something you would want?"

She turned to look at him and saw him evaluating her like he was trying to decide if he wanted to insist on her confessing the reasons behind her mini freak-out. He looked forward again for a second before he asked seriously,

"Like how many children?"

"Um…" Claire said thinking about it earnestly for the first time. "I don't know, like maybe three." She answered honestly.

"Three? Um, how about like maybe one or two?" Quil reasoned immediately.

She chuckled, surprised by his desire to have a real conversation about it before she answered, "That's fine. I could definitely live with that."

Quil nodded his head as he used his hand around her to start rubbing tension out of her right shoulder and the side of her neck. She relaxed under his tender touch for a moment before she asked,

"So, why do you want to know about kids and marriage all of a sudden?"

They had been talking on the phone for hours everyday since they had started dating and he had never brought it up before tonight.

He shrugged nonchalantly before he answered, "I just want to be prepared for whatever you want."

"As opposed to what you want?" she asked concerned.

"No." he said unfazed. "But I just want to keep you happy…. I don't want to get left behind when you're ready to take the next step and I'm not." He answered honestly.

She pulled her hand up from his leg to touch his face softly as she processed what he had said.

"I'd never leave you behind…. I'd wait however long it took for you to be ready." She told him sincerely. He turned to look at her, surprised and clearly effected by her words. "I love you, Quil. There's no future for me without you."

He squeezed on to her shoulder he was rubbing as she felt a lone tear slide down his face into her palm before he took in a breath and said evenly, "I love you too, Claire."

She continued to rub at his face, worried about this secret fear that she would leave him behind before she decided to lighten the mood for him and said, "Besides, you don't need to worry about me wanting any of those things for _a_ _bit_! At the very least not before I graduate!"

"Graduate what?" he asked a little skeptically but with a smile, "High School? College? Grad School?"

"Ummm…." She said thinking seriously as she moved her hand down from his face to his leg again. "Graduate High School before marriage, and then probably College before kids."

She turned to evaluate his reaction. He just pursed his lips ever so slightly and nodded his head casually.

"What do _you_ want?" she asked him seriously while never looking away from his face so that she could judge his reactions.

He shrugged casually again before he said, "Well I definitely think you should graduate high school _before_ we get married, but after that… I dunno maybe wait another decade or so to have kids…"

"Quil!" Claire laughed in response.

"What?" he asked sincerely with a smile.

"Another decade _or_ _so BEFORE_ we have kids!?" she asked laughing again.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" he chuckled in response.

"You'll end up being in your mid forties before I even get pregnant!" she explained like it was obvious while still laughing at his thought process.

He seemed to think about it for the first time before he shrugged and said,

"So? You'll still be in your twenties…."

She just laughed and rolled her eyes. She wanted to point out that she didn't want to have to be the young parent that kept up with their children but realized that if he was still an active wolf at that point than he would probably have more energy than she did anyways.

"Well, fortunately we don't have to decide right now." She reasoned.

He nodded before he used his hand around her shoulder to pull her head to him before he leaned in to kiss it and said, "You're so amazing …." like he was sincerely impressed with her mental maturity. She just laughed at him as he pulled onto the reservation.

They got to the house quickly after that and Quil easily parallel parked in front of the Camaro. Claire was relieved that it was only drizzling on the Makah Reservation farther up from the coast as she hopped out and opened the door to get Jamie.

"Leave him, Claire, I'll get him." Quil said surprisingly sternly as she leaned in and unbuckled him.

"I got him." She huffed as she pulled Jamie's almost sixty-pound body onto her shoulder and then backed him out of the car. He was heavier than she remembered him being before she left.

"Claire!" Quil said quiet but angrily.

She looked up at him in surprise as he took Jamie out of her arms while Butch took the opportunity to run past her and out of the car.

"Your arm is still healing! You shouldn't push it! Besides Jamie is like twice your size!" he insisted before he shifted all of Jamie's wait to his right arm and shoulder and then reached down to wrap his fingers through Claire's and around the cast on her right arm.

She just smiled at his obvious love and concern for her as she used her free left hand to rub his arm. She reached ahead of them to open the door and found it unlocked. She let go of Quil's hand as he quietly walked into the dark house ahead of him. She couldn't tell if Rachel had come home yet or not but it was obvious that her parents had gone to bed. She quietly closed and locked the door behind her before she silently followed Quil up the stairs and into Jamie's room. He gently laid Jamie, sleeping bag and all, on top of his bed. Jamie had a smudge of dirt across his cheek with evidence of the copious amounts of smores he had eaten in a sticky mess around his mouth and you could smell the smoke from the bonfire on him from a good three-foot radius, but Claire knew there was no way she was going to wake him up, she would just give him a bath in the morning and hope that his teeth didn't rot in the meantime.

She quickly kissed his forehead before she turned on his favorite dinosaur lava lamp that he used as a nightlight on his bedside table before she followed Quil out of the room and closed the door softly behind her.

She turned to face Quil in the suddenly dark hallway. She couldn't see anything in the darkness but knew that he could her as she reached out to find him and found the top most part of his incredibly hard stomach. She drew in a breath as the tips of her fingers softly trailed downward about three inches, exploring the contours of his muscles before her brain caught up to her fingers and managed to stop them, though she couldn't seem to keep them from shaking slightly.

Quil was silent as he grabbed her hand that was softly touching his stomach through his shirt and pulled her closer to him while he moved her fingers up to place them softly to his lips. He started moving backwards, dragging her with him down the hall with her fingers still held in his kiss. Claire's heart was pounding as she followed him into her room behind him. Her ears were ringing, and her head was spinning again which was odd since she was breathing harder than usual and should be getting plenty of oxygen.

He seemed to slow down as he crossed the threshold into her room bringing her with him. She could finally see him slightly from the light coming softly through the sheer drapes over her window. She followed quickly behind him as she silently closed the door behind her without ever taking her eyes from him in front of her. She didn't bother to turn on her light since she didn't really want her parents or Rachel, if she was home, to come check in on her right now. She slowly stepped up to where Quil had stopped a few feet into the room with his hand that was still holding hers but now was resting thoughtlessly next to his hip. She was surprised with how confident she felt as he seemed to watch her nervously while she steadily came closer to him until she was directly in front of him and he had to look down sharply to keep watching her. She took his free hand in her casted one and looked down at them as she intertwined their fingers together. She confidently pulled his hand up to her own lips and said softly into his fingers,

"Hi."

She looked up at him with just her eyes while still holding their hands pressed to her lips. He kept silent in response but she felt him shiver and saw him close his eyes in the dark before she let go of his hand still holding her left one loosely by their side and slowly trailed it all the way up his shirt, feeling his deeply cut stomach and chest before trailing over his shoulder and around his neck to feed her fingers into his hair as she brought herself even closer to him so that she was pressed against his chest and stomach while she stood up on her toes to bring her face closer to his.

His eyes were still closed, and he shivered again when her body brushed against him. She paused only an inch from his lips to whisper, "Have I told you how much I missed you, yet?"

His eyes popped open to look at her in surprise before he grinned wickedly and shook his head slowly from one side to the other and then back again as he released her right hand that he was loosely holding between them and then fed both his arms around her waist and held her tightly to his chest.

She arched her eyebrow up at him as she pulled her fingers through his hair and rested her now free hand against his chest as she said suggestively in just a whisper, "Well….." as she looked down to his lips and started to stretch herself to them.

His lips came down hard on hers before she even had the chance to close the distance to kiss him. He might have been the one to kiss her, but this was not just another kiss from him to her. She finally felt like she had the opportunity to reciprocate his kiss from when he had said goodbye at the airport. It was as if there were no walls between them at all. Claire let every ounce of love and passion she had for him flow through her to him. Quil not only seemed to accept her offering of emotions but returned them in equal measure with his own until it seemed like they were completely lost in a moment free of time and where nothing existed except for the two of them and their kiss.

Finally, after what could possibly have been an eternity of Claire transferring her emotions to Quil before accepting his own in return, she pulled back, feeling completely satisfied but knowing that if she continued to kiss him for much longer she would no longer feel so and would start to feel an almost uncontrollable burning need for more of him. Quil seemed resentful of her pulling away from him when he groaned softly before he followed her, taking a step forward after she had taken one back and pressed his lips urgently back to hers so that she lost herself to his kiss again, but this time in a much more heated way.

When Quil's lips finally, mercifully crawled from hers to her jaw and down her neck so that she could catch her breath she was able to came back down to earth just enough to realize he had her pressed up against him with her back to the door and her casted hand in his hair. Her left hand was shoved up his shirt and pressed opened against as many of his muscles as it could possibly get to. He had one hand on her waist holding her to him while his body pressed her against the door next to his other hand which was the only thing supporting them upright since she was arched so far towards him she would fall if he let her go.

"Quil, baby…. we gotta slow down…" she muttered almost incoherently with her eyes still closed as he made his way to just behind and below her ear before she sucked in a sharp breath and clenched her hand down, almost clawing his chest in response.

It took her a second to focus again before she realized he hadn't even processed what she had said. His hand on her waist started making its way around her back before crawling slowly up the back of her sweater and causing her to arch her back and body even more into him (which she hadn't thought was possible). Her eyes rolled up and possibly to the back of her head as he pulled his face away from her neck only to bite down softly on her bottom lip as he pulled it away from her upper before he pushed his own upper lip between them and gently forced her mouth open as he slowly licked across the top of her bottom teeth before she attacked him again by immediately shoving her tongue in to taste his mouth before she pulled it back to kiss him harder and move her lips with his as she brought her right hand down from his hair line at his neck to join her left under his shirt since one hand just wasn't enough to experience him anymore.

It wasn't until his hand which had snaked slowly up her back leaving a slow blazing trail of heat in its wake while still supporting her weight, had reached her bra line and then clasped the hook as it applied precise pressure with a small twist so that it immediately popped apart in his hand that a loud alarm screamed in Claire's mind and snapped her back to reality as she pulled away with a shocked,

"Quil!"

He looked down at her with his intense desire still burning in his eyes before he dropped her bra hook so that it flapped against her back and moved his hand down slowly while setting her back to an upright position with her back to the door. He pulled his hand out of her sweater to place it next to her against the door he was still leaning against. She was caged between him and the door with his hands on either side of her and the side of his face resting against the side of hers as he tried to catch his breath. Claire still had both of her hands up his shirt against his chest, but she couldn't seem to force them away from his skin.

"Whew!" She breathed out into his ear so that he shivered down his spine in response.

"Sorry!" He gasped out breathlessly, "I didn't mean to cross a line… you just…."

"Sneak attacked you?" She finished for him with an equally breathless laugh.

He just nodded his head against her while he panted next to her. She finally forced her hands out of his shirt, though she did drag them out incredibly slowly while still touching as much of his skin and feeling as much of his abs as she could before she ran them back up his chest just over the top of his shirt.

She didn't know what was wrong with her since she had never had reactions as strong as these before, but she just _could not_ seem to experience enough of his chest and stomach. She forced her hands up to his neck though and around to either side of his face so that she could pull him back. He allowed her to turn his head to the side only inches from hers to look at her.

"We gotta be good… alright?" She said sincerely while almost getting lost in his dark eyes that still seemed to be burning with desire.

He nodded his head as he looked down while taking a small step forward so that he could support his own weight on his feet as he set his hands lightly on each side of her waist and said roughly as he placed his forehead against hers, "I know, Baby…. I know…. But you sure make it difficult to walk away."

She wanted to apologize for testing his self-control but found that she couldn't seem to make herself feel sorry about it. In fact, she realized that she actually _wanted_ him to want her. She just breathed with him for a moment as she held on to the sides of his face with her face pressed lightly to his.

"Are you staying tonight?" She asked slightly hopefully while biting her lip.

They had spent almost every night she had been away on the phone with each other as they slept, but they had never discussed their sleeping arrangements for once she would get back.

"You think I should?" He immediately asked doubtfully.

She slowly shook her head against his face before she stopped biting her lip. "No" she admitted before saying regretfully, "But I don't want you to go either…."

He gave a small dark chuckle before he said, "Trust me, Claire, I don't want to go _anywhere_ right now….. _but_ I can't stay anyways…. My car's here, remember? …. And Butch too…"

"Oh yeah!" She said surprised.

She had completely forgotten about those facts while she had him here alone in her dark room with her. He laughed at her reaction as he stood up straighter, pulling her along with him before he slid his hands all the way around her back. She moved her arms from his face to around his neck and hugged herself tightly to him.

"Sorry about your bra…" he said regretfully even while her bra was still hanging off of her shoulders uselessly under her sweater.

"Eh, it's not the first time…." She said casually brushing it off. She felt him stiffen under her arms in response and then said, " _and…._ I probably shouldn't have told you that…." quoting him back from the day she had left and seen the hickeys she had given to him.

He pulled back to look at her as he asked suggestively, "Did Bennett…..?"

She just shrugged before she said, "Nothing happened…." He rolled his eyes at her in response before he leaned over and slowly kissed her cheek softly right next to her lips which made her softly moan in longing for more of him before she said insistently, "You _need_ to go!"

He chuckled roughly in her ear before he said, "Text me when you wake up?"

She nodded quickly while struggling with a deep internal battle of not wanting him to go so that she could always be close to him and knowing he needed to leave immediately since the other reason she didn't want him to leave was the exact reason she didn't trust herself to have him stay.

"'Kay, I'll be back first thing in the morning… _and_ apparently now have to lie when your dad asks me where we're at in regard to our physical relationship…." He said half jokingly, half regretfully.

Claire sucked in a breath before she said, "Oooh…. Yeah…. That's no bueno…"

"No bueno indeed…." He said casually before quickly leaning in to kiss her lips softly for a second. "Goodnight, Sweetheart. I love you…."

"Mmmm." She murmured softly as she placed her forehead to his again and just savored the moment of hearing it and feeling him touching her softly at the same time.

"I love you." She responded softly before she stepped up to quickly peck his lips with an unexpected kiss and then force herself to let him go completely.

He brought his hand up to her shoulder and then trailed it all the way down her arm as he walked past her to open the door and then gave her hand a squeeze before he let it go and walked out shutting the door softly behind him.

Claire just stood in the middle of her bedroom, shaking from the interaction as her head felt like it was swimming in a huge mix of emotions. The strongest emotion by far was simply regret; not for what had happened between them but because he had just left, and she was now standing alone missing him so strongly it brought tears to her eyes.

She quickly shook her head to clear it before she would start crying over the fact that she would now have to spend the next eight hours without him before she could see him again. She went into the bathroom and quickly wrapped her partial cast before undressing and tossing her already unhooked bra to the side and then hopped in the shower to wash off the smoke from the bonfire and hours of airports off of her body. Her shower seemed to take twice as long as usual though since she seemed to have to do everything twice because she couldn't focus on anything she was doing. By the time she washed her hair for the third time in a row she realized that while she had known for weeks that she was in love with Quil, it was now completely clear to her that she was in deep trouble when it came to him. She suddenly understood what he had meant when he had said he couldn't breath without her or that he was so in love with her he couldn't remember how to tie his shoes.

She thought back to the moment she had asked him what it was that he wanted in regards to marriage and children and tried to evaluate what _she_ had _wanted_ his answer to be. She was suddenly grateful for his responses since she now realized that if he had wanted to run away and get married immediately she knew without a shadow of a doubt she'd go with him. There really didn't seem to be anything she didn't want to share with him or give to him if he wanted it. She was head over heals in love with him and knew that if she wasn't careful, trouble might just be exactly what they got into.

Claire woke up the next morning feeling groggy and slight hung over, which she could say for sure now since she knew what one really felt like. She didn't want to be awake, so she quickly grabbed the water off her nightstand and drank the entire glass before trying to go back to sleep. The problem was she had other needs she also desperately needed to deal with so sighing she got up and quickly made her way to the restroom.

When she came out of the bathroom to wash her hands at the sink she noticed just how wild her hair was since she had slept with it wet. She sighed since it was in her face and sticking up at crazy angles in random places. She grabbed a hair tie and painstakingly (since she had to move around her cast) pulled it into a ponytail stopping halfway through so that it was in a floppy bun at the top of her head. Her mouth felt terrible, so she quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face. She was just drying her face with her towel and was about to go back to bed when Rachel came into the bathroom from her room.

"Hey, you're up!" she said excitedly.

Claire groaned before she said, "Not officially. I was about to get back into bed."

"Cool, I'll come with you!" Rachel said cheerfully.

She didn't think Rachel had ever been so excited to see her before but was grateful that their relationship seemed to be strengthening after so many years of animosity. Claire crawled back into bed and Rachel crawled over her to lay next to her on top of the covers.

"So, how's it going?" Claire asked casually.

"Great." Rachel said surprisingly happily.

Claire turned to look at her in surprise and laughed when Rachel actually giggled before she turned red and pulled her hands up to cover her face. Claire noticed that her fingers seemed to be stained with varying shades of purple and blue oil paint, it was very standard for Rachel.

"What's that about!?" Claire laughed referring to her unusually chipper mood.

"Nothing…." Rachel said unconvincingly.

"Oh, no, this is about a boy, isn't it!?" Claire teased as she reached over and poked her sister's side.

"Maybe…" Rachel said suggestively.

"Ooh! Travis!?" Claire asked excitedly.

Rachel just shrugged.

"Come on, Rach, spill!" Claire said insistently.

Rachel hesitated for a second while biting her lip before she said,

"Alright, but then you have to spill everything too, got it!?"

"Deal!" Claire said immediately.

Rachel took in a big breath before she said, "Travis told me he loved me last night!"

"Rachel!" Claire almost shrieked, "That's huge!"

"I know!" Rachel squealed as she started squirming excitedly like she couldn't contain it.

"What did you say!?" Claire immediately asked.

"I said, 'I love you too' what else!?" Rachel immediately responded.

Claire laughed as she shoved at her shoulder before she said, "That's awesome, Rachel, really!"

"I know!" she said excitedly as Claire heard her phone ping. "And there's more!"

"What!? What more?" Claire immediately asked.

"He gave me a promise ring!" Rachel admitted.

"What!? You're kidding!" Claire gushed.

Claire herself thought promise rings were a little immature and pointless. You're either dating or your engaged… how much in between could there be? But she didn't want to burst Rachel's bubble of happiness.

"Nope!" Rachel said with a pop of her P as she held out her ring finger to show Claire a thin gold band. "He wants to go to U-Dub together this summer after graduation!"

"Wow, Rachel! That's so exciting, Congratulations!" Claire told her excitedly.

She was surprised when Rachel turned on her side and wrapped her arm around her. She gave her a tight squeeze with her head on Claire's shoulder before she said,

"Oh, Claire! I actually missed you, you know…"

"Thanks!" Claire said touched by her sister's unexpected affection. "I missed you too, Rach!"

"Okay, so your turn to spill! What's going on with you and….. _Quil_?" She said suggestively while raising her eyebrows in surprise at Quil's name.

Claire laughed before she said, "Okay, hold on, I'll tell you everything but let me sit up and check my phone first."

Rachel moved to the end of the bed so that she could look at Claire as she sat up and grabbed her phone off the nightstand. It was only nine thirty but there was a message from Quil,

 **You up yet?**

Claire smiled to herself as she replied,

 **Just barely… how are you up already?**

She put her phone in her lap and looked down at herself to see her favorite soft pink cotton pajama pants she was wearing with a baby blue tank top on top of the pink camisole that she had slept in. It was cute for sleeping in, but she was hoping that Quil would give her enough heads up for her to at least do her makeup before he showed up. He may have seen her in all forms before but that didn't mean she didn't want to impress him whenever she could.

"Okay Claire, spill already!" Rachel said impatiently.

"Alright! We're together!" Claire told her excitedly.

Rachel gave a small but dramatic gasp, "Like _together_ together?"

"Yup!" Claire said happily.

"When!? How!? Isn't that weird now? I didn't even think you were really that attracted to him.." Rachel confessed.

Claire laughed a little before she said, "Oh, I'm _very_ attracted to him! He's _crazy_ hot, Rachel!"

Rachel seemed like she was thinking about it for a moment before she shook her head and said, "I don't know, I really don't think I've ever really looked at him before..."

"Well he's coming over today, and you'll have your chance to look then! Trust me, Rachel…. I mean…. I think he was probably always hot and we never really noticed, but in the last six months….. he just got like super cut and I just look at his chest and eeemmm!" (she almost growled as she held her hand to claw her fingers in the air as she thought about Quil's muscles) "I just want to rip his shirt off!" She confessed emphatically and enthusiastically.

Claire had enjoyed her small amounts of girl-talk that she had had with Sarah over the past few weeks but was so excited and relieved to be able to share her true unedited thoughts and feelings with Rachel since she didn't have to hide the fact that she was Quil's imprint or his age or anything else about their relationship.

"Wow, Claire! Well that'd explain that hickey on your neck then, wouldn't it!?" Rachel responded with a laugh.

Claire gasped and rubbed her hand along the side of her neck that Quil had kissed the night before as though she might be able to feel it against her skin. She had just been looking in the mirror when she had washed her face in the bathroom and hadn't noticed anything, but she also hadn't been looking for any markings either.

"Don't worry, it's tiny! I'm sure mom and dad won't even notice, especially if you wear your hair down." Rachel assured her.

She blew out a breath of relief as she nodded her head.

"Okay, so I got to know… a guy that old… I feel like he either has a lot of experience and knows exactly what he's doing… _OR…_ " (she drew the word out suggestively) "… he hasn't done anything in over a decade and is a terrible kisser…." Rachel said quickly, clearly invested in the conversation.

" _Oh_ , he knows what he's doing!" Claire answered, immediately understanding exactly what Rachel meant.

"Really!?" Rachel asked surprised. "Not awkward at all getting back into the swing of things?"

"No, Rachel, really! He knows _exactly_ what he's doing!" Claire insisted.

"Really!?" Rachel said this time impressed. "Does that worry you at all? I mean has he been practicing his kissing skills all these years behind your back? We know about Leah, but do you think there were other hook ups?"

Claire shook her head, "Un-uh, not at all. He hasn't been with anyone since he met me all those years ago, he just got some good practice in high school before he imprinted." She explained honestly.

Rachel nodded her head like she accepted Claire's explanation, "Okay, so what does this mean, Claire? I mean, do you think you'll ever date anyone else again, or is this like _IT_ for you? He's supposed to be like your one and only, right?"

"Yeah, he is." Claire said happily with a huge smile. "We're already talking about when we want to get married and have kids and stuff."

Rachel gave her a shocked look, so she said, "Not like that! We both want to wait until I'm out of high school before we take any big steps like that, but we just know we want to be together for forever now…"

"Wow." Rachel said sounding impressed. "Did he give you the necklace then?"

Claire had been playing with the chain around her neck that she had forgotten she was wearing until she had tried to rub at the hickey on her neck.

"Yeah, he did!" she said excitedly. "He surprised me with it yesterday! He said it was a welcome home slash Valentine's present and that he loved me."

"That's sweet!" Rachel said honestly like she was impressed with Quil's thoughtfulness.

They both jumped when Claire's door smashed open and Jamie came in still in his clothes from the night before and smelling like the bonfire.

"Hey! Why's everyone in here without me!?" he demanded groggily like he had just barely woken up as he made his way to join them on the bed.

They both laughed before Rachel said, "We're just talking, Jamie."

"Talking about what?" he demanded as he plopped himself on the middle of the bed between the girls where he could be in the very center of things.

"About Claire and Quil." Rachel admitted as Claire realized that she hadn't thought about how she was going to explain to Jamie the change in her relationship with Quil, it might be confusing to him especially since he had always known Quil as a platonic part of Claire's life since before he was even born.

"About the three kids they're going to have?" Jamie asked immediately. "That's what you told Quil last night, right Claire?"

"What!?" Rachel laughed.

"Jamie!" Claire said shocked and a little embarrassed, "You weren't supposed to hear that! We were just talking, and you were supposed to be asleep!"

He just shrugged unapologetically just as Quil's voice from the top of the stairs said, "Hey, can we join the party?"

Claire looked up to see him walking quickly into her room with Butch hot on his heels. He wasn't wearing a shirt, just workout shorts and had his phone connected to a running band around his arm with his ear buds hanging over his bare shoulders like he had just taken them out of his ears, he was wearing black Nikes that Claire had only seen him wear to the gym.

"Hey! What are you doing here!?" Claire asked excitedly before thinking about how she had hoped to have the chance to do her makeup _before_ he saw her but shook it off immediately while thinking that she would much rather have him there than to have the time to do her makeup.

Butch ran ahead of Quil to jump on the bed where he immediately collapsed with his head on Jamie's lap.

Quil didn't say anything before he walked all the way to Claire still sitting at the head of the bed, grabbed her face in both of his hands and bent to kiss her enthusiastically all in one smooth move. The way he kissed her left little doubt in her mind that he had been thinking about kissing her again since he had left the night before… he kept himself in control though and pulled back a moment later which was good because Claire completely forgot that Jamie and Rachel were still sitting feet from them the second he touched her.

"I was just on my run and you said you were up, so…" he explained casually like there was nothing unusual in him kissing her like that as a greeting even though he never had before. Claire was just incredibly grateful she had already brushed her teeth even if she was still in her pajama's.

"Whoa…" Rachel said quietly, and Claire turned to see her looking like she was really noticing Quil for the first time … and without a shirt on. Rachel immediately turned to make eye contact with Claire with a surprised but impressed look on her face. Claire just pressed her lips together as she cocked her head to the side in a silent, ' _I told you so'_ to her sister.

"So, what's going on?" Quil asked casually as he pulled Claire forward to sit behind her with his arm wrapped loosely around her waist.

"We're just talking." Jamie said casually while giving Quil a suspicious look that made Claire feel a little nervous.

"Talking about what?" he asked.

Claire and Rachel both started to say something, but Jamie beat them to it and said matter-of-factly, "You and Claire and your kids."

"What kids now!?" Quil asked confused and concerned before Rachel swooped in to say, "So, are you two planning on hanging out here all day? Maybe I'll see if Travis wants to come over and we can have a ping pong tournament."

Claire shot Rachel a grateful look for the change in subject before she said, "Yeah, you should definitely do that! What do you think?" she turned to look at Quil just behind her, they hadn't made any official plans for the day, but she wasn't sure if he had something specific in mind.

"Yeah that sounds like fun… I just have to have my talk with your dad first…." He replied casually before giving Claire a look that made her laugh at his over dramatization of the situation.

"Cool, I'll call Trav!" Rachel replied getting off the bed, "Make sure mom doesn't see him up here… she will not be happy!" she said while pointing at Butch next to Jamie on the bed.

"I'm about to take him to finish my run." Quil replied easily.

"What? Quil, just stay! Look at him he obviously can't do much more…" Claire immediately said while reaching out to rub at the clearly exhausted dog on the bed.

"I only did four miles and besides I don't have a shirt here..." Quil told her regretfully.

"Only!" she scoffed, "And Yes, you do!" she said happily as she leaned over and opened the drawer of her night stand to pull out the folded shirt inside. It was his blue thermal she had worn the night they had gotten soaked outside of the hospital and had to wear it home the next day. She had washed and folded it but hadn't given it back before she had left for Tennessee.

"Claire?" Rachel said softly, and Claire looked away from Quil's shirtless chest to see her standing in the doorway pointing at Jamie behind his back and silently asking if she wanted her to take Jamie away with her.

"No, it's fine!" Claire said sincerely as Quil took his armband off and shrugged into his shirt behind her that she had given to him. "Go call Travis."

Rachel nodded before she left closing the door softly behind her.

Jamie was petting Butch lovingly and not paying attention until he looked up and asked, "Can we make breakfast now?"

"Sounds good to me, I'm starving." Quil answered as he started to get up from behind Claire until she put a hand on his leg to hold him there as she said, "Yeah, in a sec Jamie, but there's something we need to talk to you about first."

Quil seemed a little surprised but nodded as he sat back and wrapped his arm around her again.

Jamie just stared back and forth between the two of them suspiciously.

"So, Jamie…." Claire started but then found she didn't know how to continue and quickly turned to look at Quil for help. He just gave her a soft squeeze around her waist before he said,

"Hey, Jamie, do you remember a few months back when you were asking about Claire being my imprint?"

"Yeah…" he answered sounding more suspicious than ever.

"And how you said that you thought we were soulmates and that we were always supposed to be together?" Quil continued as Claire relaxed in his arms, relieved that he seemed to know exactly how to handle this.

"Yeah, but you said that all that meant was that you needed her but that she still had to choose you." Jamie responded sounding a little confused.

"Right." Quil said before Claire stepped in to say,

"Well that's what we want to talk to you about. I _did_ choose Quil, Jamie. So, we're together now."

"You're together now?" Jamie asked doubtfully.

"Yes." They both said at the same time.

"So, that's why you were talking about having kids?" He asked.

"What?" Quil asked as Claire said, "No! Well…. Yes, but Jamie we were just talking about the future and what we would want… we aren't having kids right now and it's really important you stop saying that we are, especially in front of other people, okay?"

Jamie seemed like he was digesting all of the new information while Claire just sat, praying that he would understand.

"So, you're together?" he asked.

"Yes." Quil answered confidently while Claire nodded her head.

"So, no more Bennett then?" he asked.

Quil chuckled softly in Claire's ear as she said, "No. No more Bennett, he has his own imprint now."

Jamie nodded while he thought about it before he asked, "So Quil is staying around now? He's not going to step aside and leave anymore?"

"What?!" Quil asked immediately, "Of course not! Why would you say that? I'm not going anywhere, Jamie."

"That's what you did when Claire was together with Bennett…. Its what dad said when I asked where you were." Jamie replied while still stroking Butch.

Claire bit her lip as she and Quil turned to look at each other. Quil shrugged at her before he rubbed her arm softly in confused support.

"That was my fault, Jamie, not Quil's." Claire tried to explain.

"How was it your fault that he left?" Jamie asked resentfully.

"Because I asked him too." Claire confessed and was surprised when he looked sharply up at her like she had betrayed him somehow.

"Why!?" he asked shocked, like he couldn't even fathom that Claire would ever ask Quil to leave.

"Because….." she hemmed trying to think of a way to explain the situation to him.

"Because I didn't want her to date Bennett and made things difficult for her." Quil tried to simplify it.

"Then why would you date Bennett!?" He asked her frustrated.

"Because… I …. I" Claire flustered at a total loss for how to make him understand the complexities of the situation.

"Jamie, don't you remember when we talked about this the day that Claire went to homecoming with Bennett?" Quil asked him confidently.

Claire looked at him in surprise. She hadn't known they had talked about it without her.

"Yeah…" Jamie admitted.

"… And you said you wanted Claire to be with me and not Bennett?" Quil continued. Claire smiled at the thought.

Jamie just nodded at him.

"And what did I say?" Quil asked.

"You said that you couldn't be with Claire because she wasn't a grown up and you were, but that it was okay if she was with Bennett for a little bit." Jamie recited.

"Exactly." Quil said as Claire said, " _Oh!_ " with understanding, finally putting the conversation together in her mind.

"So, she's completely done being with Bennett?" Jamie asked skeptically.

"Yes!" Claire answered confidently.

"And she's a grown up now so you can be together finally?" he clarified.

" _Well_ …." Quil hedged as he gave Claire a slightly guiltily look and a conspiratorial smile at her age, but she said very confidently, "Yes!"

"So, we can finally go get ice cream together then?" Jamie asked obviously having his priorities in line.

"Yes!" Quil laughed in response. Claire sighed out in relief that he finally seemed to understand and accept what they were trying to explain.

"Only on one condition!" Claire negotiated. "We'll take you to go get ice cream if you promise to stop talking about our potential kids!"

Jamie hesitated and seemed to consider it before he asked regretfully, "Why can't you just have a baby?"

Claire looked at Quil in complete shock and confusion. She could see her own expression mirrored on his face before he seemed to think of something and turned to Jamie,

"Why do you want us to have a baby, Buddy?"

"Because if you have a baby that'll make me an uncle like Charlie is, right?"

Charlie was a boy in Jamie's preschool class that he seemed to talk about more than the other kids. Charlie was only an uncle because his sister Melanie who was in the grade above Claire had gotten pregnant and dropped out the year before.

"Charlie is Melanie Upright's little brother…" Claire turned to whisper to Quil. He still looked slightly confused so she whispered, " _Melanie,_ the one I used to cheer with _before_ …" she faded off suggestively.

Quil nodded clearly remembering Claire talking about it, before he turned to Jamie and said, "But if Claire had a baby now she would have to spend all of her time and attention on him instead of you."

Jamie looked perturbed like he didn't like the idea of Claire spending time with another child other than him.

"Don't do that, Claire." He said very seriously.

"Okay, I won't." she promised while trying to avoid rolling her eyes at the idea and logic behind it all.

"Okay, I won't talk about it anymore. Now let's go get ice cream!" he said immediately.

They both laughed, and Claire said, "Um maybe let's eat some breakfast first, Okay?" just as her dad walked unexpectedly into the room. Claire was suddenly immediately glad for his timing and that he hadn't walked in seconds before to overhear their conversation about having babies.

"Quil! I was just coming to ask Claire when you would be coming to have that talk I promised!" he said.

Quil blew out a determined breath and Claire immediately reached a hand down to supportively squeeze his leg as he said, "I'm ready now."

"Let's go!" her father said happily as Jamie spluttered, "But breakfast!... Ice cream!..."

"Come on, Jamie, I'll give you a bath and then we can have breakfast." Claire told him following Quil off the bed.

"Don't let your mother find Butch up here." Her dad said repeating the warning Rachel had given them.

"Can we take him down to the basement while we have our ping pong tournament?" Claire asked not wanting to send him away.

"Did you say ping pong tournament?" her father turned back around from where he was walking out of the door to ask with interest.

"Yup! With Rachel and Travis too." Jamie said happily.

"Hmm, maybe you and I can be a team against all of the 'couples'!" her father said good-naturedly to Jamie.

Quil took the opportunity of their distraction to quickly kiss Claire who blushed at being kissed in front of her father before he said, "Absolutely, I'll still take you down even with Claire as the handicap on my team!"

"Hey!" Claire objected, "I can play with Jamie or Rachel if that's how it's going to be!"

He just winked at her before he gave her hand a squeeze and walked downstairs with her dad to his office.

Claire quickly gave Jamie a bath and got him dressed before she sent him downstairs. She went back into her room where she traded her pajamas for a new pair of light wash jeans she had bought in Tennessee and the same soft white v-neck with the rips that had caused her so much trouble at school. This time she made sure to where a baby pink lace bra that you could only see if you stared really hard at it through her sheer shirt.

She didn't bother to do her hair or makeup since it sounded like it was just going to be a relaxed family day at home. She went downstairs where Jamie was already setting the table and Travis had arrived and was helping Rachel make breakfast.

"Whoa!" he said when he looked up at Claire walking down the stairs. She blushed in embarrassment since he said it in almost the exact same way Rachel had said it about Quil. "Hey, Claire. Nice hair! I'd have never pegged you as a blonde." He said casually.

"Hey, Travis, good to see you." Claire replied without quite making eye contact as she went to help Rachel crack a dozen eggs into a pan that would probably be entirely consumed by Quil alone.

Ten minutes later Quil came out of her dad's office with him smacking his back good naturedly. He looked a lot more relaxed than the last time he had come out of that office and Claire blew out a breath of relief in response. She smiled brightly at him before he came up behind her to wrap his arms around her waist and kiss the top of her head.

"Everything go okay?" She asked looking back and forth from Quil behind her to her dad.

"Yup! Quil's officially out of the hot seat!" Her dad answered.

"Uh, hi, I'm Travis." Travis said while looking in confusion at Quil.

Travis had been around for so long, dating Rachel since homecoming, that Claire hadn't realized he had never met Quil before.

"Oh sorry! Travis, this is my boyfriend Quil." Claire quickly introduced him.

Quil smiled as he reached out a hand from around Claire's waist to shake Travis's as he casually said, "Hey, how's it going?"

"Wow, so the rumors are really true. You dumped Callahan for someone else, not the other way around…." Travis mused in shock.

"Trav!" Rachel's horrified voice chastised him.

Claire and Quil just looked at each other with wide eyes and smirks on their faces about the situation that they could never fully explain but seemed a lot less stressful and dramatic now that they were together.

"Oh sorry, man!" Travis immediately apologized like he just realized what he had actually said.

"It's all good. She traded up for the better brother." Quil responded easily.

Travis stood completely shocked for a second before he said, "Wait! You're Bennett's _BROTHER_!?"

Quil laughed before he said, "How do you think I met Claire?"

"Quil!" Claire said as she slapped his chest. "You're intentionally giving him the wrong idea!"

"What?" He laughed, "That's as good a story as any for how we met." He told her with a squeeze.

"Not really! It casts me in a terrible light!" Claire argued while Travis watched on with completely confused disbelief. "Travis, Quil and I knew each other _before_ I started dating Bennett!" She immediately made sure to clarify.

"Yeah, we did!" Quil said like he was suggesting something causing Rachel to laugh and Claire to smack at his chest again while Travis just seemed like this timeline was not adding up in his head.

"Alright, Travis!" Claire's dad interrupted while clapping his hands together before rubbing them. "Your turn for the hot seat!"

Travis turned to look at his girlfriend's father with shocked eyes.

"I don't know, Robert… he's still a little young… I don't know if he can handle it…" Quil teased from behind Claire.

"Oh, he can handle it, right, Trav? You're eighteen, now aren't you?" Robert said.

"Yes, sir." Travis answered before he turned to Quil and asked like he just couldn't help himself, "How old are _you_!?"

"Uh…. Twenty-four." Quil answered and everyone laughed in response as Travis's eyes got wide in shock at the idea of Claire dating a guy potentially eight years older than her.

"You guys go ahead and start eating, Travis and I will be back in a few minutes, hopefully!" Robert said as he started gesturing to Travis to follow him into his office.

"Hopefully?" Rachel asked suspiciously as she came to place a hand protectively on Travis's arm.

"It depends on how correctly he answers all of my questions…" her dad answered in response. "Don't think I don't know that was you sneaking in after two last night…" he said as he backed away into his office.

"Whelp! Good luck!" Rachel said like he was on his own when it came to answering to her father.

"Well he lets Claire date her ex-boyfriend's twenty-four-year-old brother…. How strict can he be!?" Travis respond as Quil gave him a clap on the back before laughing like he thought Travis had no idea what he was walking into.

Claire noticed Rachel getting increasingly more nervous as they sat down to eat until the moment they came back out of her dad's office fifteen minutes later. Travis did indeed look pretty shaken up but still in one piece and her dad was as cheery as ever while the two of them ate breakfast with Quil who was _still_ eating before they helped the rest of them clean up.

After breakfast they played different tournaments of ping pong late into the afternoon while switching around teams and continually working together to strategize different ways to beat Quil and his wolfish advantages.

After everyone finally gave up on trying to take Quil down, they all ended up taking Jamie for ice cream. Claire's dad had some papers to grade, so it ended up being Quil and Claire with Jamie and Travis and Rachel. They all squeezed together in the Jetta that Claire drove while Travis kept trying to one up an older Quil with football stories from the backseat while everyone else laughed at his good-natured attempt to unwittingly compete Quil's a supernatural ability. He was just swearing that he had single-handedly won a football game with a Hail Mary pass as they got out of the car in front of the ice cream shop when Bennett and Macy walked out together holding hands. Claire immediately felt awkward and stopped laughing as she made eye contact with each of them. She suddenly wished she had taken the time to do her hair and makeup before going out in public.

"Hey! Trav, what's up!?" Bennett asked excitedly as he let go of Macy's hand and clapped hands with Travis before giving him a typical guy hug. "Hey Quil! What's up everybody? Getting some ice cream huh?"

"Hey, man! You didn't tell me you had an older brother!" Travis responded earnestly.

Bennett's eyes widen a little bit before he looked at Quil in surprise as he said good-naturedly, "Yeah, that's what _I_ said to my mom!"

Quil laughed and said, "Yeah, it might have come up that we're related this morning…"

Claire scoffed at him with a chuckle before she said, "Might have come up!? You practically threw it out there!" She was just relieved that the interaction between them felt so casual after the night before… well at least on Bennett's part. Macy was standing back in an extremely stiff posture with her arms folded across her chest.

"Bennett, is Macy your imprint now?" Jamie surprised everyone by asking from where he was standing holding Claire's hand next to the driver's side door that she was still standing next to.

"Jamie!" Claire said in shock. Travis was already looking at Bennett in confusion.

"What? You said that you and Quil were together now and that Bennett had his own imprint…" he replied to her.

"That's okay, Claire." Bennett said before he crouched down in front of Jamie and said, "Yeah, little man, Macy _is_ my imprint… that's cool that you know that."

Jamie just shrugged and said, "I guess it's cool that you have an imprint since Claire is Quil's…"

Bennett laughed at Jamie's response while Macy looked like she was about to tear Claire's hair out and Travis looked at Rachel like he was about to start asking some serious questions before Quil said, "Okay! Let's get some ice cream!"

"Yes! Hurry, Jamie, let's go before the rocky-road is all gone!" Claire replied trying to move things along and away from Macy and Bennett as quickly as possible.

She made sure to wait for Quil to meet her and Jamie around the car before she had to walk past Macy, wanting as much distance from her as possible as they hurried into the shop to buy Jamie the ice cream she had promised him when she was still dating Bennett months before.

They got back to the house an hour later to all go their separate directions. Jamie ran inside the house to turn on the tv that he hadn't watched ' _all day!'_ Rachel and Travis hurried off to the basement for a one on one match of table tennis and Quil quickly shut the front door behind Jamie before Claire could follow everyone else inside the house.

"What's up?" She asked confused as she pet Butch on the front porch where he had been patiently waiting for them since they left.

"I gotta leave for my 'supervisory' patrol run but someone promised me some alone time this weekend…." He said suggestively as he sat on the ground with his back to the door and wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her down in front of him from where she was crouched over Butch.

"Supervisory?" She asked in confusion.

"Yup. Collin still isn't allowed to run lead on patrol now and Bennett isn't trusted to be his chaperone so…. I guess it'll be three of us tonight…" he explained.

They never needed more than one or two wolves to run patrol at a time.

"Wow. How long will that last for?" She asked surprised.

"Until Jake decides he's done punishing Collin so…. Probably for the rest of our lives…"

Claire chuckled as she rubbed at his arms around her.

"I'm sorry, babe…. I actually thought we could go to dinner tonight as our alone time." She admitted.

He gave a small growl of frustration as he buried his face into her neck.

"Freaking Collin!" He said obviously still annoyed at him for his stunt.

"Sorry…. Hey maybe apologize to Bennett for this afternoon though…" Claire told him while still petting Butch in her lap.

"Apologize for what? He seemed fine with what Jamie said." Quil replied unconcerned.

"Yeah but Macy sure seemed bothered by it."

Quil scoffed and said, "So now we have to apologize for every little thing that bothers Macy? Where will that list end?"

"Quil…." Claire chastised reasonably.

"What? People talk about how you and Bennett used to date in front of me all the time and I never throw a little hissy fit!" He insisted sounding like he was obviously annoyed by Macy.

Claire chuckled softly as she reached up to hold the side of his face as she turned her head to kiss his cheek. "That's because you are amazing! _AND you_ make my life easier…. But we both know Macy doesn't do the same for Bennett…."

Quil just shrugged around her like he didn't really care if Bennett's life was easier or not. Claire just laughed and let it drop preferring to spend the rest of her limited time with Quil not discussing Bennett and Macy.

Quil left about twenty minutes later taking Butch home with him and Claire spent the rest of the night on a team with Jamie having another tournament in the basement against Travis and Rachel.

* * *

 ***Author's Note***

 **So this chapter is particularly long which is why it took me a minute to upload it! I'd say there are plenty of things in it to get my heart rate pumping a bit but I'm dying to know what you think! So let me know what you think and definitely your favorite parts! Hope to be able to share more soon!**

 **xoxo**


	10. Chapter 9

***Author's Note***

 **Sorry, Sorry, Sorry! I know I'm late and have been MIA about posting while y'all waited patiently for an update! Obviously, my life has been a little crazy but the truth is that with all of the changes happening in my life I just haven't been in a head space to work on my sweet Quil and Claire! But I want to thank the people that commented asking if I was going to update soon. That was seriously the reason I had enough motivation to get this chapter out! So remember that hearing from you guys is always appreciated and I cannot wait to hear reactions to this chapter! Also, if you are ever confused and wondering when in the world I will ever get around to posting again, check my twitter! t's specifically dedicated to my fanfiction and I usually do a good job of reporting what's happening, what I'm working on, and when I'll be updating again! It's JessMissedHer or MissedJess is my twitter handle! Can't wait to hear from you! Hope you enjoy!  
**

 **xoxo**

 **Jess**

* * *

CHAPTER 9

The rest of the weekend past quickly it felt like Claire had blinked and then missed it. On Sunday, Quil took Claire down to La Push to visit his mom, who she hadn't seen in about six months and then had to pretend that everything was the same between them as it had been for the last few years. Quil's mom was on a strictly need to know basis of not fully knowing or understanding everything (or sometimes anything) about the wolves. Quil had already decided he didn't want his mom to know that he was currently dating a sixteen-year-old Claire. She knew that Claire was Quil's imprint but didn't fully understand what that meant and just seemed to always expect Claire to be around as an accessory to Quil.

Quil seemed eager to leave once his mom finished asking her about cheerleading and had started to move on to questioning her about the boys at her school that she must be dating. They spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying First Beach even though the constant drizzling rain never let up. Quil wanted to go back to Chubbies again but Claire blatantly refused to go anywhere where they might have the possibility of running into Tina again. They got back to Claire's house in the late afternoon where Jamie immediately begged them to take him to see a movie. Claire took one look at her mom's exasperated face and agreed to his request without even so much as a look at Quil for his opinion before her mother had a chance to lose her cool like she was clearly about to.

They took Jamie to see the latest Disney movie that had come out over the holidays. It was about wolves and Quil kept laughing hilariously in all the wrong parts at the inaccurate portrayal. Claire spent more time watching and laughing at Quil's and Jamie's reactions than the movie itself but cried at the always emotional ending just the same. By the time the movie was over, and they got Jamie home and ready for bed it was past nine thirty and Claire could hear her parents locked away in their room arguing in not always very subdued voices. Quil helped Claire get Jamie situated in bed and they were just making it to Claire's room when her parents decided to make their appearance.

Claire could still hear her mom pacing in their room, but her dad opened the door and seemed surprised to see them in the hall. He quickly looked back and forth between the two of them heading into her room before he looked down at his watch and then back up to say warningly, "You two better say goodnight now…" before turning to glance behind him at his wife.

"But it's only-" Claire started to say but her dad cut across her.

"I'm serious, Claire. It's a school night. Say goodnight and then Quil needs to go."

"It's okay, babe. I'll see you tomorrow." Quil said stepping in front of her to cut her view off from her dad before he kissed her softly.

"Okay…" she said hesitantly before looking up at him and saying, "I love you!"

"I love you too." He said with a smile before he turned around to head down the stairs. "Night, Robert." He said as he past.

"See you, Quil." He responded casually though seeming distracted. As soon as they heard the front door close behind Quil he turned to Claire and said,

"You better get to bed now." as he turned to head back into his room.

"To bed?" Claire muttered to herself in confusion as she went into her room. It wasn't even ten and Rachel wasn't even home yet.

She got ready for bed quickly before she went to sit on her mattress and pulled out the manga novel she had taken from Rachel. She tried to relax for the next few hours but just seemed to feel more and more keyed up as the night went on. She finally flipped off her lights and got under the covers. She thought lying down in the dark would help her to relax but instead she just felt a growing anxiety about going back to school the next day. She had been kept so busy the whole weekend with her family and Quil that she hadn't even thought about going back to the school she had been so desperate to leave behind.

She started to feel like she was going to have an anxiety attack and rolled over to pull her phone off the charger and quickly call Quil. It was past midnight, but she knew that he didn't have patrol, so he should be able to answer. He didn't though, and Claire was getting fidgety and stir crazy. She suddenly knew she wouldn't be able to sleep at all until she had at least some exposure to Quil.

She got out of bed quickly and moved around her room and bathroom throwing things back into her duffle bag she had never unpacked from Tennessee. She grabbed her backpack and went into Rachel's room through their shared bathroom to find her at her desk working on a homework assignment that was clearly due the next day, she looked up when Claire came in.

"Hey, I'm gonna spend the night at Quil's. Can you drop Jamie off at preschool tomorrow?"

"Yeah, that's fine." She turned to answer seeming shocked and confused as she looked at Claire clearly ready to leave. "How are you getting there?"

"I'm just going to walk, it's not far... I know I'm just not going to be able to sleep until I see him…. And Mom and dad both have early days tomorrow, so they won't even notice…"

"Okay…. Well.. I'll see you at school?" Rachel asked concerned.

Claire scoffed and said, "Yeah, at school… that should be fun!"

Rachel gave her a sympathetic face, "Try not to stress about it."

"Easier said than done….. but it's fine. Quil will make me feel better." She said confidently. She was just backing out to sneak down the stairs when Rachel said, "Hey, Claire?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not going to go hook up with Quil or anything are you?" Rachel asked concerned.

"What? No! Rachel, I'm pretty positive he's actually asleep right now… no, the only sleeping together we'll be doing will be literal." Claire assured her, taking a step farther into the room to convey her sincerity.

"Okay good." She nodded as she turned back to her homework before looking back quickly and saying. "You know…. Just because Quil is older doesn't mean you have to have a _more mature_ relationship…."

"Oh, I know! Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything we'd _both_ just regret." Claire assured her. Rachel just nodded in response in a way that made Claire feel concerned.

"You too… you know that, right?"

"What?" Rachel asked confused.

"Just because Travis gave you a promise ring and told you he loves you doesn't mean you have to have a _mature_ relationship." Claire assured her confidently.

Rachel just smiled as she nodded her head and said, "I know."

Claire smiled as she backed away before turning and making her way out of her bathroom and remembered to grab her phone charger before she quickly snuck down the stairs and out the backdoor since it would draw less notice than the front before she quickly walked the five minutes to Quil's shop she hadn't been to in five weeks.

She instantly felt a sense of coming home as she came up to the door of the shop and reached to turn the handle. The door was locked which made sense since it was getting close to one in the morning. Claire looked around trying to think of the best way to get in if she couldn't wake Quil up. She walked around the corner of the building and looked down to see a big rock sitting on the ground next to the wall.

She picked it up to find a spare key underneath. She laughed out loud when she realized that she knew Quil's brain so well it had taken her less than ten seconds to find his hidden key. She let herself in before she locked the door behind her again and made her way up the stairs to his apartment while her anticipation grew with every step she took.

By the time she made it to the door on the landing her heart was pounding, and she swallowed a little nervously before she opened the door. It was dark inside, and she could see Quil sleeping in his bed like she had expected him to be, with Butch asleep on his doggy bed. She was surprised that neither of them had woken up when she quietly opened the door but was grateful she hadn't disturbed them as she snuck in and dropped her duffle and backpack by the door. She slipped off her shoes and unzipped the jacket she had thrown on top of her pajama tank top before she grabbed her phone charger out of the front pocket of her backpack where she had stuck it. She took the spare key for the shop she had just grabbed and then quietly walked around the bed where she set her jacket and the key down on the coffee table before she went to the kitchen where she quietly filled a glass of water from the sink. She saw Quil start to stir a little when she turned on the tap before she crept where she put her glass on the coffee table only a few feet from her side of the bed and then connected her phone to the charger that she plugged into the wall before stuffing it between the pillow and the mattress since there was no nightstand on her side of the bed before she climbed under the covers.

She tried to lay flat on her back to go to sleep as she listened to Quil breathing the same way she had slept in Tennessee, but her heart just seemed to keep pounding hyperactively. Finally, after what felt like an eternity later Quil rolled from his side facing away from her to his back and she immediately took the opportunity to roll over to him and wrap her arm around his chest as she pulled her leg up to wrap around his where she bent her leg and hooked her foot below his knee. She sighed, finally comfortable as she tucked her face into the space between his shoulder and his neck. He pulled his right arm up to touch her arm across his chest and placed his hand on her shoulder. He seemed to wake up a bit as he sighed out quietly to her, "Hi."

"Hi." She said back just as quietly since she was finally tired enough to go to sleep.

She yawned as her pulse finally slowed and she stretched herself lower onto the mattress so that she was deeper under the sheets as she held on tighter to Quil. She was just drifting off when it finally occurred to her that Quil wasn't wearing any clothes besides his underwear that he normally slept in and she wondered if she should be concerned about sleeping in his bed with him like that. But she was tired and didn't want to over think things, so she just brushed the thought aside as she quickly fell to sleep across Quil's chest.

Claire woke up the next morning to her backup alarm blaring on her phone. She must have slept through her 6 o'clock and 6:15 alarm. She had to untangle herself from Quil before she could roll over and find her phone under her pillow. The ringing alarm just got louder as she pulled it out from the pillow muffling it causing Quil to groan at the interruption to his sleep. She quickly turned it off before she double checked the time. She knew that it had to be six thirty from the ring tone of the alarm, but she just couldn't believe it was actually that late from how tired she was.

She groaned as she let her face fall completely into the pillow while she muttered "Crap…" to herself, school would be starting in forty-five minutes and she seriously needed to get moving. She had rolled over on top of Quil's arm to reach her phone and she could feel him pulling at her and curling his fingers in against her stomach as he sleepily tried to get her to roll back to him. She pulled her face back up to breath and blew out a mouthful of hair before she ignored his silent offer to go back to bed with him as she quickly rolled off the mattress.

Now that she was waking up a bit there was a panic starting to set in about being late for school. She ran to her duffle bag yanking off her tank top from over her camisole as she went. She threw it on the floor next to her bag before she opened it to pull out her toiletry bag. She stood up and stripped off her pajama pants to reveal her pink lace panties underneath. She dropped her pants on the floor next to her tank top before she ever stopped to wonder for the first if she should really strip all of her clothes off in Quil's apartment right in front of him. She quickly turned to evaluate his reaction and was relieved to see him still facing her side of the bed away from her with his eyes still closed. She blew out a breath before she grabbed her whole duffle since it had her clothes in it and quickly shut herself in the bathroom. She started the shower so that it would heat up as she started digging through her toiletries looking for her shampoo, conditioner and razor. She realized she had forgotten to pack them in her rush to get there the night before. She bit her lip in a panic since she didn't have time to go home to shower before school.

She looked up to see Quil's Old Spice shampoo sitting in the shower next to his razor. She just scoffed at herself before she stripped the rest of her clothes off and quickly got in the now too hot shower. She figured they were dating now anyways and he wouldn't mind sharing, right?

At least that was what she hoped as she grabbed the shampoo that smelled distinctly masculine and got to work on her hair before using his razor to shave her legs with his body wash. He didn't have any conditioner, so she just gave up and hoped out of the shower five minutes later. She was grateful that the small bathroom had steamed up so much from her hot shower as she got out and didn't freeze immediately like she usually did. She quickly grabbed a towel from off the rack and wrapped it around herself as she dug for clothes in her duffle bag. She had packed so quickly that she hadn't really packed at all and had simply taken what she hadn't unpacked from her bag yet. She dug through to find the only underwear she had was a couple pairs of elastic workout thongs she had bought for cheer and a new pushup bra that was an electric purple.

She sighed as she settled for what she had and was simply grateful to have found clean underwear at all at this point. She pulled her underwear on after quickly ripping tags off and used the towel from around her body to wrap around her hair as she looked for clothes. She quickly assessed the options in her bag before she pulled on a pair of cropped brown linen shorts that came mid-thigh and a plain dusty pink V-neck t-shirt with a white fitted blazer over top of it. She had bought the shorts and the blazer separately in Tennessee and had never worn them before. She was surprised with how much she liked the outfit especially when she was working with such limited options. It was something she probably wouldn't have normally put together but had reminded her of the way the other Claire at the airport had put herself together and decided if it worked well for her today she would need to log it away for future use.

She quickly shoved aside her duffle bag as she took the towel out of her hair that was a tangled wet mess from its lack of conditioning. She pulled some lotion out of her toiletries bag and rubbed it onto her smooth legs before she pulled out her toothbrush and then used Quil's toothpaste since she had clearly left hers at home with everything else. She stuck it in her mouth as she tried to yank a brush through her hair for a minute before giving up and digging through her bag again as she tried to simultaneously brush her teeth. She was incredibly grateful when she found a bottle of hair oil at the bottom of her bag and quickly poured a copious amount in her palm before rubbing it all vigorously through her hair. She was finally able to pull the brush through it before she toweled out the moisture one more time and hung the towel back up.

She rinsed her mouth in the sink before packing her toothbrush back up and applying a primer to moisturize her face. She grabbed her duffle and then opened the door to find Quil sitting up in bed like he had just woken up and looking a little confused. She hadn't noticed but his hair was definitely shorter, so he must have had it cut after he had left the night before. It was shorter on the back and sides with a little extra length at the top that had plenty of volume right now after he had just woken up and made her smile in response.

"Hi!" She said brightly as she dropped her bag by the door again and smiled at him. She ignored how late she was already running as she shoved her wet hair aside and moved to the bed to climb on to his lap and greet him excitedly.

"Hi." He responded a little confused as he wrapped his arms around her back where she was kneeling between his legs as he sat in bed. "You look nice." He said sincerely. She just laughed since her hair was still dripping wet and she hadn't had a chance to do her makeup yet.

"Thanks!" She said as she leaned in to kiss his cheek. "I like the hair cut!" She said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled her fingers through the back of his hair.

"Thanks. Have you been here all night?" He asked.

"Maybe…" she admitted coyly with a small shrug.

"Everything okay at home?" He asked obviously concerned.

"I think so…" she responded still concerned about her parents. "I was just really nervous about today and wanted to be with you instead of alone."

"Well, then I'm glad you came." He told her as he rubbed his hands comfortingly up her back. "How did you get in after I locked the door to the shop?" He asked surprised and confused.

"I found your spare key." She said as she pointed to the key she had left on the coffee table as Butch jumped up on the bed to lay next to the two of them together.

Quil laughed in response before he said easily, "Just keep it for next time."

"Are you sure?" She asked concerned that she was pressuring him into something.

"Yeah, of course. Who else would I give it to?" He said confidently, "Hey, why do you smell so different?" He asked her suddenly sounding concerned.

Claire started laughing at the thought before she said, "I smell like _you,_ Quil."

He just raised his eyebrows and cocked his head in surprise as she explained, "I may have borrowed your shampoo…. And your body wash….. and your razor…."

Quil laughed before he said sarcastically, "Oh, is that all!?"

Claire bit her lip before she admitted, "…And your toothpaste….. Sorry! I forgot everything, and I didn't have time to go home to get ready…"

"Claire, you can use whatever you want…. Especially if it involves you waking up here next to me." He told her confidently as he tightened his arms around her and pulled her closer. She beamed up at him in response before she caught a glimpse of the clock on his night stand that read, 7:02.

"Eh! I'm going to be so late!" She squeaked nervously before she looked at him and asked, "What are the chances that you have a blow dryer here?"

"Um, one hundred percent zero" he said.

Claire cracked up in response, "One hundred percent zero? That makes no sense!" She replied as he pulled his arms from around her back to her waist where he started tickling her mercilessly while he said, "It makes perfect sense! There is one hundred percent zero chance that I have a blow dryer here!"

He laughed as she fell over onto her side almost landing on top of Butch as she collapsed to try to escape his tickles. She sighed as she placed her casted wrist on his leg next to her and felt completely contented for a second before she remembered the time in a panic and said urgently, "I gotta get ready!" She pushed up against his legs, hopped up and ran back to the bathroom in a hurry.

"So, who is it that you're dressing up for at school?" Quil teased her from his spot on the bed as she started fish-tail braiding her hair around her cast from behind her right ear to over her left shoulder.

"Uh… can't I just be trying to impress _you_ my first week home?" She asked from the bathroom.

"Um, I want to say yes because I really like that idea except for the fact that you are literally getting ready as you run out the door!" He replied, and Claire laughed before she responded.

"I am just _REALLY_ worried that today is going to suck…. Everyone is going to be talking about me and how I disappeared the day that Bennett started dating Macy…."

"Maybe it won't be that bad…" he said optimistically as he made his way into the bathroom before grabbing his toothbrush from around her.

"Uh!" She said nervously as she made it over her shoulder with the braid. "I really hope so! I just wish you were going to be there with me to help me through it!"

He wrapped an arm lovingly around her waist as he mumbled, "I'm sorry, baby." around his toothbrush before he leaned around her to spit into the sink before he rinsed his mouth and said honestly, "I love you, Claire, but I have no desire to go back to high school!"

"Uh!" Claire scoffed teasingly at him as she rolled her eyes and bounced nervously before she grabbed a hair tie from her toiletries bag and wrapped it around the end of her braid. She grabbed at her makeup bag and started urgently applying a taupe colored eye shadow.

"Did you know that Jake was planning on redoing high school with Renesmee before she got pregnant the first time!?" Quil told her in disbelieve like Jake was somehow the world's biggest idiot.

"I believe it… Jake would do anything for _his_ imprint…" she teased as she pulled out an eyeliner pencil and started below her eye before working back all the way to the top of her lash line. She used her finger to blend out her lower liner, so she wouldn't look so much like Rachel going through her goth phase a few years back.

" _I'd_ do anything for you… there are just some things I'm willing to beg you to not ask me to do…." He teased simply.

Claire smiled and rolled her eyes at him as she grabbed her mascara and started vigorously layering away at her lashes.

"Well fortunately for you, I'm never going to ask you to repeat high school." She assured him.

"Hallelujah for that!" He said as he stepped all the way behind her to wrap both of his arms around her as he watched her do her makeup.

She chuckled as she grabbed a nude colored extra thick and glossy lip-gloss and started heavily applying it to her lips before she stuck it in her back pocket to take to school with her before she grabbed her bronzer and a brush and started buffing out under cheeks then hitting her hair line and then dropping it for her blush. She quickly dipped the same brush against it before she swiped it across her cheeks and then threw everything back in her makeup bag on the side of the small sink. She grabbed a pair of sparkly, long dangling earrings from the side pocket of her toiletry bag and stuck them in her ears before she grabbed the rose gold watch Rachel had given to her for Christmas and slapping it to her wrist. She grabbed the small travel sized can of hairspray before she looked at Quil in the mirror over her shoulder and said,

"You better stand back…"

He took one look at the can in her hand and immediately dropped her waist and stepped out of the bathroom before she closed her eyes and sprayed it directly into her face to hopefully set her makeup before moving around to hit her hair with it all in one shot before she threw it back in her bag and ran out of the bathroom for her duffle. She looked at the clock behind her as she grabbed a pair of socks and started pulling them on, it was 7:17.

"Eek! School just started!" She squeaked as she started pulling on her navy-blue converses. "How quickly can you be ready to take me to school?"

Quil shook his head before he said simply, "Just take my car."

"What?" She said shocked as she quickly tied her shoes, "I can't take your car!"

"Why not? I'm not going to be ready to take you any time soon." (he gestured down to his body where Claire wished she had enough time to notice more that he was still only in his boxer briefs.) "Plus I work here, remember? You'll be back by like what, 2:30? I don't need to go anywhere before that." He reasoned.

"Alright, if you're sure…" she agreed since she really needed to go as quickly as possible. "Keys?" She asked as she grabbed her backpack off the floor and stood up.

"Here!" He said as he went to his nightstand and then surprised her when he started digging through the drawer instead of tossing her his keys that were on top of it. He pulled out an extra set of keys to his car before he tossed them to her. "There's your set."

"You want me to have a set of keys to your car?" Claire asked in shock.

He rolled his eyes at her and shrugged his shoulders like he was exasperated at her disbelieve.

"We can talk about it later!" She reasoned quickly as she slid the keys in the front pocket of her bag as she backed to the door.

"Did you get something to eat, yet?" He asked her.

She shook her head as she opened the door and said, "I don't have time. I'll have to wait for lunch."

He had sat back down on the edge of his bed after tossing her the keys from his nightstand, but he quickly reached into the still open drawer and said, "Here!" before he tossed her a power bar.

"Thanks!" She said as she vaguely wondered how long it had been in there. She was backing out of the door in a rush to get to the car when Quil said,

"Wait, you forgot something…"

"What?" She asked confused as she went through her mental checklist and looked at her duffle and toiletry bag she had left on the floor.

He cleared his throat significantly and she looked up to see him smiling teasingly at her as he patted his cheek with his index finger. She laughed as she quickly crossed the room letting the door smack back closed behind her before she reached him and put her hands around the back of his neck and into his hair as she bent to softly kiss the side of his cheek where he was still sitting on the edge of the mattress. He quickly reached his hand behind her and started brushing the back of her thigh from the inside of her knee to just under the hem of her shorts that fell just above the middle of her thighs and then raised his eyebrows at her in approval of her soft legs. She rolled her eyes before she held his face still to kiss his lips softly for a minute before she pulled back and said, "Bye, Quil!"

"Bye, baby!" He said obviously happily contented with her goodbye.

She rushed quickly to the door calling behind her, "I love you! You have lip-gloss all over your face!"

She was already hurrying down the stairs when she heard him call after her, "Uh-oh, don't tell my girlfriend!"

She laughed as she ran to unlock the door to the shop before hurrying to the Camaro and pushing the button on the handle to unlock it. She was grateful that Quil had preset her seat setting as she hit the second button and started the car as she threw her backpack into the passenger seat. As soon as her seat was in position she used her awkward right hand to force the car into reverse before hitting the gas and pulling out forcefully though surprisingly smoothly.

Thanks to the power in the Camaro (and having a thorough knowledge of which corners to avoid where the local cops liked to set speed traps) Claire made it to school in three minutes so that the late bell was just ringing as she pulled into a spot halfway up the student lot. She figured she was already late, so she pulled her gloss out of her back pocket and reapplied what she had just kissed off all over Quil's face. She took a deep breath to savor the feeling of tranquility that seeing Quil and then being in his Camaro had left in her before she grabbed her bag and ran for the school making sure to lock the car behind her.

She was becoming too familiar with the sensation of every single head turning to stare at her as she walked in late (and slightly out of breath) to algebra two. She blushed as a mass of flurries greeted her entrance. The teacher took one look at her before rolling his eyes and going back to copying an equation out of the book onto the board. Claire tried to act like the entire class wasn't talking about her as she quickly made her way to her empty seat next to Bennett.

Bennett was smiling hugely at her like he was absolutely psyched to see her. "Hey, Claire! It's so great to have you back again!" He said excitedly as he leaned across his desk to kiss her surprised cheek the way they had at the bonfire, apparently this was a regular greeting between them now. Claire was just grateful that Macy didn't have this class with them. "You can finally explain all of these equations to me!" He continued as the whole class started buzzing in response to his greeting.

"Uh, hi Bennett… good to see you!" She responded a minute late as he pulled back from her cheek with a curious look on his face like he knew a secret before he said meaningfully, "Had a good first weekend back, did you?"

Claire didn't understand his meaning and pulled her book out of her bag as she said confused, "Yeah, it was good."

He chuckled before he looked back at the board and said in an even more loaded tone, "I bet it was!"

"Okay, what are you taking about?" Claire finally asked quietly while looking directly at him.

He bit on the end of his pen while he pretended to be pondering an equation as the teacher turned to look at them just like everyone else in the room was. Claire quickly started flipping through her textbook at random just to appear busy. As soon as he turned back to the board Bennett leaned across the aisle to tug softly on the end of Claire's still wet braid and said teasingly, "I didn't think Quil's shower was even big enough for two people…"

Claire gasped as she immediately brought her left hand all the way across the aisle to smack at his chest _hard_. Fortunately, he was a wolf and it didn't actually hurt him, but it was a loud smack and they immediately had the entire classes attention again. Claire looked directly down at her book while she felt her face burn which she was sure wouldn't help to correct Bennett's crass assumption. She realized that he must have smelled Quil and his body wash all over her and her wet hair when he went to kiss her cheek. She heard him chuckling at her reaction as he copied the problems off the board.

"It wasn't like that!" She insisted into her textbook knowing that with his now advanced hearing he would easily pick it up.

"How many ways are there to take a shower together?" He laughed across the aisle at her.

"Shhh!" She whispered dramatically as at least four heads turned back in their direction after obviously hearing his comment.

Bennett looked apologetic as he realized how many people overheard his flippant remark.

Claire waited a solid two minutes until the class had gone back to paying attention before she turned sharply to Bennett and whispered.

"We didn't shower together! I stayed the night last night and showered there this morning but that's it, so can you please stop before you ruin my reputation even more!"

Bennett looked surprised and regretful as he said, "Okay, I'm sorry, Claire. I was just messing around!"

Claire huffed out, agitated and flustered for a moment before she decided she needed to let it go and said, "It's fine…. It's just not exactly the reputation I want and it's basically the one I already have…"

Bennett nodded and seemed perplexed before he said, "There's got to be something _I_ can do to fix that, right?"

Claire softened at his willingness to do anything to help her and smiled at him before she said softly, "Yeah! Don't make sex jokes about me and Quil in first period algebra!"

He chuckled in response before the teacher turned to give them the stink eye and they both immediately became instantly focused on the lesson.

The rest of the morning was an interesting mix of having to constantly pretend she didn't know that all the whispers around her were about her and avoiding Macy in home economics where she was blatantly ignoring Claire's existence. The thing that Claire didn't understand was why with each passing period it seemed like the whispering grew louder and more insistent instead of fading off. By the time lunch came around Claire literally couldn't move anywhere in the school without causing a huge stir. People would grow silent and stare at her when they caught sight of her before moving to the extremes to stay out of her way and then continuing their whispered conversations the second she had passed by.

Claire was just counting down the seconds until school would end and she could leave. When she realized that she had Quil's Camaro at the school with her she was immediately tempted to just give up on the whole thing and run for dear life but remembered how many weeks of the semester she had already missed and knew she needed to stick it out if she planned to avoid summer school due to a lack of credits.

She was standing in the lunch line waiting to pay for her salad when her friend Katie ran up to her and said shocked and confused, "Claire, you're dating a twenty-five-year-old!?"

"What?" Claire asked shocked. She and Quil had agreed weeks ago that it was best if no one at school knew they were dating and she had been there all of three hours before the news had apparently broken. "Who told you that!?"

"I can't say…" Katie said unhelpfully like she was being loyal or something. "So, it's true then!?"

"No! Of course, not!" Claire immediately assured her as she took a step forward in the crowded line. She wasn't actually dating a twenty-five-year-old so it wasn't even a lie.

"Then whose car did you drive to school this morning? It's all over that you showed up in some fancy muscle car just to make it clear to Bennett that you moved on to bigger things!" Katie replied concerned.

Claire just stood there with her mouth hanging open having zero explanation to give that would explain that away. She snapped her mouth shut and took another step forward in line as she shook her head vigorously before she said, "No, Katie! I mean I did have to borrow the car but it's not like that! Really!"

Katie rolled her eyes taking Claire's answer as a confirmation of the rumors and unfortunately Claire was next in line so there wasn't anything she could do as Katie walked away toward their table. Claire quickly paid for her lunch and then went to follow Katie to the usual table that they sat at but stopped when she saw Katie sitting back down across from Macy who was whispering intensely into Bennett's ear next to her while continuing to turn to cast dirty looks at Claire as Bennett frowned down at the table while he listened to whatever Macy was railing into him about. He turned to her and started to whisper something back looking agitated, but she seemed to shut him down by cutting him off with a look that said she was not messing around. He huffed like he was frustrated but nodded at her before she seemed satisfied and turned to face away from him. Claire quickly decided that she did not want to get within ten feet of them and turned to scan the room for a different table to sit at.

The problem was that as soon as she looked away from Macy and Bennett she noticed that everyone around her was staring at her like they were waiting for her to break into song or something. She swallowed nervously in response before she finally spotted an empty table towards the back of the room, the only problem was that she would have to walk past her usual table to get to it. She quickly started moving, desperate to get out of the unwarranted spot light. Every table she past immediately became silent as she walked by. Her heart was pounding as she moved closer to the table where all her friends were sitting with Macy and Bennett. Every single one grew completely silent before they turned to watch her walk past except for Bennett who seemed to be determinedly making eye contact with Macy and having some sort of silent argument with her.

The intention was obvious to Claire, Macy was putting her foot down. If Bennett so much as made eye contact with her Macy was clearly going to make sure he regretted it. Claire did her best to not appeared bothered by the situation of now being ostracized as she walked past quickly and made her way to the empty table. She immediately sat down and pulled Rachel's manga out of her bag wishing she had the same lunch schedule as her sister so that she wouldn't have to eat alone.

She tried earnestly to focus on the graphic novel in front of her and not on all of the whispers and stares around her as she ate her lunch. She pasted a solid ten minutes in total agony wanting to flee the school again and wondering if leaving the country this time would get her far enough away. She managed to maintain her composer as she imagined which places Quil would most want to go and what they would do together in different exotic locations around the world. Claire lost herself so completely in the daydream planning as she stared happily at her salad instead of the abandoned book in her front of her that she was completely shocked when the chair next to her pulled out and someone sat down. She looked up in surprise to see Macy's use-to-be boyfriend Caleb, the senior who was also on the football team, sitting right next to her.

"Hey, Caleb!" She said surprised. She hadn't seen him since that day Bennett had imprinted on Macy and he had left lunch early.

"Hey, Claire." He said casually like they saw each other every day. "You mind if I sit here?"

She laughed before she gestured around her and said, "Take your pick, I have a few seats to spare if you haven't noticed."

He chuckled at her response and nodded while Claire noticed that he hadn't brought anything over with him. She took another bite of her salad since she hadn't ever had a one on one conversation with Caleb before and wasn't sure what she should say.

"You're looking good." He noted. "Where ever you ran off to these last few weeks really paid off for you."

"Um, thanks…" she answered a little awkwardly. "Tennessee. That's where I was. I went to work my aunts ranch in Tennessee."

She couldn't explain why she felt the need to explain this, but it was suddenly incredibly important to her that he knew that while she _had_ run away she was at least productive and hadn't spent her time wallowing in pain.

"Cool." He answered a little vaguely before he looked over at the table where they both used to sit and then clenched his hand that had been laying on top of the table into a fist.

It suddenly occurred to Claire that the last few weeks she had been gone couldn't have been the best for him here either.

"How are you doing with everything, Caleb?" She asked sincerely. "Things here must have been great…" she finished sarcastically.

He scoffed out a chuckle before he looked back at her and said, "Yeah getting dumped by a sophomore for Bennett Callahan isn't exactly the dream."

Claire frowned and nodded sympathetically imagining his pain. She noticed that at least two tables next to them seemed to have stopped all conversation just to watch them.

"But I don't need to explain it to you, you know exactly what I'm talking about… who would have thought that Bennett'd turn out to be such a douche?" He continued annoyed while shooting another look back at the resentful table.

Claire just shrugged with a noncommittal look on her face. She knew there wasn't really anything she could say to make him feel better about the situation and she had no explanations to give him for why Bennett had seemingly dumped her or why he had suddenly decided he needed to be with Macy like his life depended on it.

"But hey," he said suddenly making direct eye contact with her next to him before he put his hand directly on her bare thigh high enough that the tips of his fingers were under her shorts. "I did hear a rumor that you were into trying new things now that you're done with him… we can get out of here if you want."

Claire was shocked at his completely unexpected come-on but had enough of a clear head to remember that because so many people were already watching them, if she wasn't careful the whole thing would turn into a huge scene.

She grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand off her leg before immediately dropping it and turning her face to look past him. She whispered with her face next to his so that he could hear her, but it wouldn't look like she was talking to him as she distinctly said, "Caleb, I don't know what you heard, but I'm not the kind of girl that's into 'getting out of here and trying new things'… no matter _who_ Bennett is dating."

"Come on…" he responded confidently completely unfazed by her rejection as he snaked his hand below the table to her waist so that his hand was on her hip as he slowly lifted his fingers under her t-shirt so that he was touching the skin of her stomach as he said. "Macy was hesitant at first too, but she definitely wasn't complaining by the time I was finished with her... actually she was screaming my name…"

"Get off of me!" Claire snapped loudly as she smacked his hand away from her with her cast as she stood up. "Don't touch me, Caleb! And don't talk about Macy like that! I don't care what she did to you, she's my friend and I don't want to hear it!"

She didn't realize that she had yelled it at him until she looked around to see the entire cafeteria staring at her.

"Whoa! Okay, you're way overreacting…" Caleb responded calmly as he held his hands up in a small surrender.

Claire immediately grabbed her bag and Rachel's manga off the table before she said quietly since she still seemed to have the entire rooms attention on her but with complete confidence, "Stay away from me, Caleb."

She went to walk away but he had grabbed her left wrist to hold her there.

"Can't you just chill and sit down and talk about this for a minute?" He asked like she was being completely ridiculous. She was still facing away from him towards the doors of the cafeteria and noticed Bennett stand up as he shook off Macy's hands that were obviously trying to hold him there before he started walking toward them. He was still forty feet away and Claire desperately wanted to end the situation before she needed Bennett to break it up for her.

"Uh, no I can't! Now let me go, Caleb!" She said warningly while looking down at him.

He looked at her with an annoyed expression on his face before he looked past to see Bennett thirty feet away and incoming and dropped her arm before he said, "Damn. So uptight!"

Claire immediately walked away without looking back.

"Are you okay?" Bennett asked her the second she reached him, clearly frustrated and concerned about what had just happened with her and Caleb. She just bit her lip and shook her head slightly as she went to walk silently past him since she didn't trust herself not to cry and had no desire for this to be any more of a scene than it already was.

He wouldn't let her just walk past though and put both of his hands on the tops of her arms as she tried, so that she had to turn around and face him.

"Claire?" Bennett asked in concerned frustration while she noticed his hands shaking roughly on her arms.

"Just let it go, Bennett. You aren't helping things here!" She whispered back surprisingly calmly while gesturing with her head at what seemed to be the entire room still watching.

He hesitated to let her go while he shook harder than ever. Claire had been about to pull away and just walk out when she suddenly realized that he was losing full control and his shaking went beyond regular human emotions. She hesitated for a microsecond before she realized that she couldn't just abandon him to potentially phase right there in the cafeteria.

She blew out an agitated breath before she took a large step forward, closing the gap between them. She wrapped her casted arm around his neck while she threaded her left under his arm and around his back and hugged herself to him as tightly as she could before she stood on her toes and whispered to him.

"Just breath, Bennett. You can do this. Just breath!"

He was still shaking violently, and she squeezed him tightly as she tried to contain his explosion with her own body. He just moaned to her softly like he couldn't contain it within him.

She closed her eyes to shut out the room of witnesses around her as she whispered into his ear. "Close your eyes."

He seemed to stiffen slightly like he was shocked by her request.

"Close your eyes." She repeated softly with her chin on his shoulder. "We aren't here…We're at First Beach… It's just you and me and there isn't anyone else around, okay?"

She felt him nodded desperately as her body shuddered with each of his vibrations. She immediately shoved Quil as far out of her mind as possible knowing exactly how upset he would be if he knew she was attempting to contain Bennett's reaction instead of running from it.

"Just breath with the waves, Bennett. In. Out. In. Out." She told him calmly doing her best to sync her mind with his and force everything around her away from herself. "It's so peaceful… There's so much motion, but it's so consistent… Just like you, Bennett. It's going, going, going, just like you are, but it's still calm too, you know?"

She felt him bark out a small laugh at her description of him as his shakes seem to space farther apart.

"That's it! Just imagine the waves, Bennett. Breath with the waves!" She told him confidently. "In and out… just like the tide, alright?"

She felt him nod and breath slowly as his tremors seemed to reduce to quivers. She kept going since it seemed to be working.

"The tide rolls in….. and out….. breath in….. and out…." She directed him as she felt him obediently follow her commands until he seemed to take one huge breath in and pull his last shiver deep with inside himself before he stopped breathing and was completely still.

Claire held her own breath and waited for a moment before he blew out and was no longer shaking. She pulled back and opened her eyes as she put her hands on the tops of his arms and forced herself to look only at him.

"You good?" She asked sincerely as she looked directly into his eyes that now seemed about a thousand years older and like he had the wait of the entire world on his shoulders.

He just nodded silently at her before she looked around to see the entire room staring mesmerized at them including Caleb still sitting at the table she had abandoned twenty feet away.

She felt Bennett squeeze the top of her right arm above her cast and say, "Sorry, Claire… that was…. stupid…."

She shook her head slightly before she asked, "You really, okay, Bennett?"

She didn't want to let go of him until she was completely sure. He nodded his head emphatically as he said, "Yeah, I just saw that asshole grab you and I completely lost it…. Man, Quil is going to be so pissed!"

Claire quickly dropped his arms, sure that he would be fine and started to back away as she whispered softly so that only he would hear, "You let me worry about Quil, you go find your girlfriend…." since she had seen Macy walk out in a huff when she had hugged herself to him and put her head on his shoulder before she closed her eyes.

Bennett looked back at the table he had abandoned in shock like he had completely forgotten about his girlfriend, "Shit! Mace!" He said softly while rubbing at his jaw in the same way Quil did when he was stressed or agitated. Claire just shook her head and turned her back to him and everything else in the stupid high school that was determined to tear her down and walked out of the cafeteria to the sound of complete silence while every pair of eyes stared at her. She reached the door as quickly as she could and pushed it open to make her escape only to run directly into the dean.

"Ms. Young! Just who I was looking for! Would you please escort me to my office to discuss your attire?" He said in the same borderline creepy way he always seemed to speak to her.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me…" Claire muttered in complete disbelief, she hadn't even shut the door on the scene in the cafeteria behind her yet.

He just raised an eyebrow and cocked his head as he looked at her seriously and then placed a hand on the top of her arm before reaching the other one out to indicate that she walk ahead of him. She moved quickly until she was out of his reach and then marched as quickly as she possibly could down the hall to his office.

When they reached the dean's office, Claire waited with her arms folded defensively across her chest as the dean opened the door and then ushered her in.

"Okay, what is this about? I'd really just like to get to class…" Claire began before they had even walked past the receptionist's desk and into the dean's interior office. She noticed a small pile of yard signs leaning against the wall that all read 'Re-Elect City Councilman Witmore. The man you can trust!'

Claire had forgotten that the dean was on the city council but immediately thought he probably wasn't nearly as trustworthy as he wanted to seem.

"Please, have a seat, Miss Young." The dean said calmly like he had all the time in the world to keep Claire for as long as he liked.

Claire blew out a sigh of frustration as she sat in front of his desk. She was completely caught off guard and immediately felt uncomfortable when he chose to sit in the seat next to her instead of across the desk from her like she had expected him to. She quickly slid to the extreme far end of her seat as she faced her body towards him instead of sitting side by side. She didn't even try to hide her discomfort from this man who she never wanted to be left alone in a room with.

"Relax, Claire." He said casually while obviously noticing her posture. "I just want to have a conversation. I'm here to help you…."

"Can we leave the door open, please?" Claire immediately asked not trusting him in her personal space where he was sitting only a foot away from her.

He sighed like he was annoyed before he said, "If that makes you more comfortable…."

As he stood up to open the door again Claire took the opportunity to move her chair six inches farther away and then turned it to face his chair so that when he sat down again he would be across from her instead of to the side. She could hear him mumbling something to the receptionist but couldn't tell what he said as he turned to notice her movement.

He sighed again, and it instantly remind Claire of Caleb's reaction to her moments earlier when he had said she was overreacting. He sat back down and angled his seat towards her so that he could look directly at her.

"Okay, Claire. Why don't you tell me what's going on here…" he said like he was amused as he gestured up and down at her from her converses to her white blazer and braid.

"What? My outfit meets all of the dress code requirements…" Claire said as she forced herself to grab onto the arms of her chair to keep from folding her arms across her chest. This man made her feel incredibly uncomfortable and she didn't want to give him any more power over her by acting defensively.

"Technically yes… but the dress code is also on a case by case basis that is left to my personal discretion." He explained as he put his fingers together in front of his mouth before he seemed to examine her from head to foot. Claire shivered in response and immediately caved and folded her arms across her chest as she crossed her legs and sat in as defensive of a posture as she could.

"So, then what's wrong with it that you felt the need to pull me in here?" Claire asked trying to keep her voice steady and even instead of accusatory. She was suddenly grateful that she had made him leave the door open after the way he had looked at her a moment earlier as he seemed to take in her entire outfit.

"…. It's provocative…." He seemed to justify before saying, "This isn't just about your outfit today though… I'm concerned with some behaviors I've seen from you and some reports I've been hearing…."

Claire just raised her eyebrows at him before she said, "…Like?" She had never had any problems in school ever before and besides the incident with her ripped jeans and sheer white shirt she had never even been to the dean's office. She hadn't even been to school in five weeks and she couldn't see how her current outfit could possibly be construed as provocative since she was wearing a t-shirt and a blazer even if she was wearing shorts.

"Like the reports that you were propositioning Bennett Callahan to take a shower with you this morning in first period…." He answered while continuing to stare at her like he was evaluating her reaction.

"What?" She scoffed out with a laugh. "Who told you _that_!?"

The dean simply shrugged his shoulders and cocked his head to the side while he seemed to continue his never-ending gaze of visual appraisal.

"Well, it's not true…. Feel free to bring Bennett in here and ask him, he'll tell you that never happened…." Claire said reasonably.

"Because I could expect him to admit to it if you did proposition him?" He asked skeptically.

"Yes." Claire answered simply knowing that Bennett would never lie about it even if she had propositioned him.

He just looked at her skeptically for a moment before he seemed to switch tactics and said, "Let's talk about your outfit…. Why did you choose to wear this today?"

Claire looked down at herself to realize that while she was crossing her arms together so tightly she was squishing her cleavage up and out of her shirt due to the new push-up bra she had never worn before. She immediately dropped her arms to her legs as she rubbed them down to her knees, wishing that her palms weren't sweating. She evaluated her blazer over her t-shirt and then her shorts that came down farther than her cheerleading skirt did and tried to think of a defense for an outfit that she didn't think needed defending.

"Because it was clean." She answered a little rebelliously before looking up to make eye-contact with the dean again.

"You weren't trying to get a reaction?" He questioned like she was toying with him.

"And what kind of reaction exactly are you insinuating I'm after?" Claire answered coldly while refusing to let his eye's roam her anymore by maintaining a strong eye contact.

She expected him to become angry or annoyed but was surprised when he put a hand on the arm of her chair and leaned towards her with a sympathetic look on his face before he asked kindly, "Are you sure you wouldn't rather talk with the door closed?"

"No!" She immediately said, "I mean, yes! I'm sure! If you try to close the door again, I'll leave…."

"Claire, no one is going to hurt you... this is a safe space…" he said kindly while making her feel more uncomfortable than ever by refusing to leave her space that he had invaded.

She resisted the urge to yell at him to just tell her what he wanted so that she could go and opted to just sit quietly while she waited him out. Claire froze when he reached his hand that wasn't against her chair and brought it about three inches above her right leg crossed over her left. He held it hovering over her above the skin between her knee and shorts.

"A good measuring stick might be…" he began slowly. "Would it make you uncomfortable if I touched your leg there?"

"Yes!" She answered confidently while giving him her most dirty look.

"So, then don't you think you're shorts are probably too short?" He reasoned like he had just won a brilliant deductive argument.

"No, you misunderstand me." She answered while shaking her head. "It's just the thought of you touching me that makes me uncomfortable, not my legs…."

He looked angry for the first time as he pulled his hand from over her leg back but left his hand on the arm of her chair. Claire noticed him look towards the door again before looking back at her and she suddenly went from uncomfortable to frightened and a little panicked.

"Claire, I don't think you understand the position you're in here…." He said in a tone that seemed to be both warning and seductive.

Claire suddenly felt furious as she realized the position he had just put her in. She now had to refuse to be a young girl that let herself be intimidated and harassed by a man that had some modicum amount of authority over her life. She uncrossed her legs and she saw the dean glance down and notice with what appeared to be a satisfied expression on his face.

"Now…" he started to say more reasonably before she used both of her feet on the floor to sharply push her chair back and out of his grip before she stood up and grabbed her bag in one motion as she started walking out the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked quietly but authoritatively.

Claire didn't respond as she walked out the door to the waiting area where she noticed for the first time that the receptionist's desk was now empty. She heard the dean behind her and saw him reach out a hand to grab her arm before she turned around to face him as she jerked out of his reach while staring at his hand. He pulled back without touching her as he said,

"You can't leave yet. We aren't finished here, and I haven't dismissed you." He answered in his professional reasonable voice again.

"Oh, we're finished here." Claire said confidently as she grabbed the handle of the door to the hall. "Don't come find me, don't talk to me, and definitely don't _look_ at me again!" She said warningly as the bell for class rang and the halls started to fill with students.

She turned and yanked the door open before she walked out without looking at his reaction. She was relieved as she heard the door snap shut behind her. She maintained her quick pace through the halls, walking purposefully as students all around her continued to stop what they were doing to stare at her. She couldn't even see them through her eyes that were filled with the tears she refused to shed.

"Claire!" She heard a boy's voice yell, but she didn't stop as she walked past. She thought it might have been Bennett, but she also thought that their voices sounded enough a like that it could also be Caleb.

She walked all the way through the school and didn't pause as she shoved the doors to the parking lot open and walked out without a backward glance at the teachers and students filing into classrooms for fifth period. She walked directly to the Camaro, pushed the button on the door that beeped when it unlocked and then threw her bag on the passenger seat and started the car as she slid in. She immediately yanked the car into reverse and pulled out without even looking behind her.

She forced herself to drive at a reasonable speed instead of just hitting the gas pedal to the floor and peeling out like she was dying to do as she pulled out of the parking lot and then steadily made her way back home to Quil. It wasn't until she pulled up to the shop two hours early with the garage door opened and Quil raising a truck up on the lift that Claire finally stopped for the first time since walking out of the dean's office. She put the car in park and then brought both of her hands up to the top of the steering wheel where she held on to it like it was a life preserver as she pressed her forehead to the back of her shaking hand and cast, closed her eyes and silently let the tears fall free.


	11. Chapter 10

***Author's Note***

 **Alright my lovelies! So I just want ya'll to know that I worked my tail off so that I could put this chapter out today! (wow, whine much, Jess?) And it's only because of YOUR comments asking for more since I'm leaving out of town in about two hours and stayed up last night editing and combining what was originally two chapters into one just so that this chapter would have what I felt was enough answers and not leave you hanging too much! I actually still need to pack! So** **I guess** **moral of the story is that sometimes in life you get what you want if you just ask... or that I just really appreciate feedback :P lol alright, I'll stop hamming it up now! Enjoy this extra-long chapter! There's a LOT to it and I'm excited to see the reactions to it! Alright, have a great weekend!**

 **xoxo**

 **Jess**

* * *

CHAPTER 10

 **Quil:**

Quil had fallen asleep the night before around eleven thirty after contemplating the argument he had overheard Robert and Susan having as he followed Claire around trying to distractedly help to prepare Jamie for bed. Robert seemed to be being his usual calm and reasonable self, but Susan seemed to be all over the place and acting completely irrationally. One moment she would be ripping into Robert about how he bought the Jetta for Claire without consulting her (again) to going off about how much older Quil was than Claire the next and then would just randomly throw in something like "I'll leave, Robert, I swear I will!" without any sort of rhyme or reason behind it.

As soon as Robert looked at him and suggested that he needed to go, Quil knew that if Susan saw him there it would turn _UGLY_ and quick. So, he had said his brief goodbye to Claire and come home. He had actually used the unexpected time to squeeze in a much-needed haircut just before the salon closed.

That night he had a full awareness that he was holding Claire in his arms as he slept but it just didn't occur to him that she wasn't _supposed_ to have been there. He barely registered Claire's alarm going off until she rolled away from him with a sigh to pull her phone out and turn it off. He woke up just enough to try to get her to roll back over to him before he felt her get out of bed completely as he fell back to sleep.

He came to more of an awareness when he heard Claire getting out of the shower in the bathroom. He rubbed at his face and looked at the clock to see 6:47, he tried to think back to when he had fallen asleep. He was positive he had been alone, but at some point she had crawled into bed with him. He just shook his head because however she had ended up there, he wasn't going to complain about it. He sat up while he rubbed his hand through his hair that felt foreign with its new and unfamiliar shorter length thanks to the haircut. He listened as he heard Claire moving through the bathroom while she got dressed and ready. He could tell by her quick and sporadic movements that she was jumpy and in a hurry. He looked over when she opened the door and came out.

For a second he was completely blown away by how beautiful she was as she smiled at him. She had been moving in a rush but seemed to slow down just by looking at him. Quil suddenly wondered what he had ever done to be so damn lucky that he got to have Claire and her love as she ran barefoot to the bed and hopped up to sit in front of him between his legs.

After Claire left for school Quil smiled to himself as he used his hand to wipe her sticky lip-gloss off his face which turned out to be unnecessary because Butch immediately started licking it off. He pushed Butch aside and laid back down in bed since he still had another hour to sleep before he had to start working. He felt his heart rate increase with anxiety as he thought about Claire's first day back. He could tell how nervous she was about it and that always made him nervous in response. He was just praying that whatever happened today would go smoothly for her. He rested his hand on Butch who had laid in Claire's spot on the bed. He rubbed his neck absentmindedly as he reasoned to himself that at least Bennett would be there with her.

The idea that Bennett being anywhere with Claire could be a relief was almost laughable to Quil since he had basically hated the kid while Claire was dating him, but Bennett would look out for her and Quil knew that he felt guilty for how crappy things at school had turned for Claire after their breakup, so he was sure Bennett would try to do whatever he could to help her today.

Quil quickly fell back to sleep thinking of ways he could make Claire's day better when she got out of school and didn't wake up until 10:39 am. He had completely slept through his 8:00 o'clock alarm and when he woke up he decided that he would go get breakfast before actually starting to work since he was really just focusing on his one project currently and he was running late anyways.

He jumped in the shower and immediately noticed the way Claire's scent seemed to linger and found that he suddenly enjoyed it probably more than he should before he quickly had to turn the water to cold and regained his focus again. After getting out and moving around Claire's makeup and toiletry bag in the bathroom Quil quickly got ready by just throwing on a clean pair of boxer-briefs and his gym shorts and opted to go shirtless before grabbing his keys and phone and taking Butch out with him to run to his favorite bakery a mile down the road.

The bakery was empty when he got there since it was already between the breakfast and lunch rush. Quil had Butch obediently wait outside while he went in to order his coffee and croissant and egg sandwich. When he paid for his order and took his to-go cup from the barista he noticed her blush a little before she said, "I like your new hair cut…"

He hadn't realized that he was there frequently enough for her to notice when he cut his hair.

"Yeah, thanks." He responded casually.

"You know… this is the third time I've written my number on your cup…. Are you ever going to call me? Or is the coffee really the only thing you like here?"

Quil had only noticed a number on his cup one time before and he hadn't even realized this girl, who he probably saw a couple times a week, was the one who had written it. She looked to be in her late teens or early twenties… she had dark hair with purple streaks in it and these large hipster glasses that were bright teal. She was cute and Quil suddenly felt bad that he had never even noticed her or her attentions.

"Oh!" He said surprised. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that was you…. No, I actually have a girlfriend."

As guilty as he felt for having unintentionally blown this girl off he thoroughly enjoyed being able to admit that Claire was his girlfriend now.

"Right." She said with emphasis on the T, while looking back down at the counter like she thought he was blowing her off again.

"No, really! I didn't call because I have a girlfriend I'm crazy about…." He insisted as he pulled out his phone and brought up the home screen to show her the same picture of him and Claire he had shown to Jacob.

"Wow." She said impressed, "She's beautiful… you two look really happy together."

"Thanks, yeah.. she is…" Quil said happily to her as he took his over five bucks in change back from her before sticking it all in the tip jar to assuage some of his guilt.

"Well…. At least I know it's not me." She responded sounding slightly discouraged.

"No, definitely not!" He quickly assured her. The truth was he was flattered by her interest and if he was still the same kid that hadn't imprinted on Claire all those years back, she would have been exactly his type. Edgy, but still hot, someone that seemed like she'd be up for a good time, maybe a good party or two. Of course, Claire had changed all that for him, but it still didn't escape his notice that if things were different this girl would be someone he would be interested in. "I'll bring her by some time. I think you'd like her. And she could always use another friend…" _especially_ _right now_ he thought to himself.

She just nodded her head as she handed him his sandwich and he thanked her before taking it outside to sit with Butch as he ate.

It was already past noon before he got back to the shop. He didn't even bother to go upstairs and just opted to take his coffee along as he began working on the truck he was almost finished restoring. It kept leaking oil and Quil couldn't seem to figure out why. He'd been thoroughly investigating it for twenty minutes when he decided he needed to get a better look underneath and put it on the lift to rise it another 6 feet into the air. He was just hooking a light underneath the engine when Claire pulled up in the Camaro.

He looked up at her in confusion as she parked and then seemed to deflate in a heap against the steering wheel. He watched her for a moment with his hand still leaning against the light he had already hooked under the truck. He was waiting for her to get out and come tell him why she had clearly left school early, but she didn't move. The warning bells that always went off in his brain to indicated something was wrong with Claire started ringing as he finally dropped his hand from under the truck and saw Butch perk his head up to look at the Camaro curiously. He quickly walked to the car twenty feet away and realized Claire was crying hunched over.

He opened the door to the car that was still running.

"Hey, Babe." He said softly as he crouched down to her level outside the door. "I want to ask what you did to the car that made you so scared to tell me about, but it looks fine so far…." He teased as he put a hand on her waist. It was so big compared to her that his fingers wrapped around to back too, she flinched ever so slightly when he touched her before she relaxed against his hand.

She chuckled out a small laugh before she said, "I wish that was what was wrong…" her eyes were still closed, and she hadn't turned her face away from the steering wheel as tears leaked down her cheeks leaving dark trails of mascara on her face.

The warning bells started blaring in his mind. They hadn't rung like that since she had left for Tennessee.

"Uh-oh, that can't be good." He said seriously. "Do you want to come inside and tell me what happened?" He moved his hand up to between her shoulder blades so that he could soothingly rub her back the way he had done every time she was upset since she was two. She shivered slightly as he moved his hand against her and he suddenly became incredibly nervous after noticing the flinchy way she responded every time he touched her.

She had pulled her head up a few inches to nod in response as she opened her eyes to look forward at the garage. Quil bit the inside of his cheek as he slowly reached his other hand to her face. She closed her eyes as soon as his hand touched her cheek and she leaned into it as she started sobbing before Quil could even use his hand to turn her face so that he could see it.

"Claire! What happened!?" He immediately asked starting to get frightened from her reactions.

"… I think…. the dean….. just came on to me….." she sobbed out while looking at him for the first time.

"What." Quil asked in such a flat deadly tone it wasn't even a question.

Claire nodded her head as she sucked in a shaky breath and then said, "He told me we weren't finished, and I couldn't leave his office until he dismissed me… I got so freaked out that I just walked out. I got super mad and told him not to look at or talk to me anymore and then I just left and didn't stop until I got here and it just all hit me at once I guess…." She said clearly trying to explain her tears and emotional reaction.

Quil nodded understandingly, no wonder she looked so shook up. He brought his hand from around her back to cradle her face in both of his hands before he looked at her and asked calmly, "Did he try to touch you?"

She looked into his eyes as she shrugged her shoulders like she wasn't sure.

"What do you mean?" He asked understanding her gesture. He forced himself to keep his tone even and steady as he tried to keep her calm while getting as much information about the situation as quickly as possible.

"I guess he didn't _actually_ touch me…" (Quil didn't like the way she said ' _actually'_ ) "but he just kept leaning over me and he sat in the seat right next to me instead of behind the desk and he seemed all annoyed that I asked him to leave the door open…." (Quil could already feel the heat in his naval starting to grow) "I think he sent the receptionist away, Quil, so that he could be left alone with me…." She started shaking as she admitted it.

Quil didn't realize he had started growling until he saw Claire's look of shock in response. He immediately stopped, realizing that he was just upsetting her more with his angry reaction.

"Then what did he do, Claire?" He asked in as calm a tone as he could manage while wanting to explode.

She caught him by surprise when she dropped the steering wheel, so she could throw herself at him. She wrapped both of her arms tight around his neck and then seemed to hold on for dear life as she pulled in one huge breath and then became completely still as she held it in.

"Hey!" He said surprised but soothingly as he wrapped his left arm around her waist while reaching with his right to lean into the car and press the ignition to turn the engine off. He quickly stood up, pulling her out of the car with him. He held tightly to her as he made sure to not squeeze her so tightly that it would actually hurt her. She seemed to calm down as she held on to him with her arms around his neck and her face buried into the side of his throat in the same place where she had given him hickeys, as she breathed steadily into him while the constant drizzle rained down on them.

Quil couldn't stop himself from asking in a shaky voice, "Did he hurt you, Claire?"

She shook her head against his neck before she ran her fingers through the back of his hair and whispered honestly, "No. I'm okay now that I'm with you."

He breathed out a huge sigh of relief as he held her tighter until he felt her lungs constrict and realized that she couldn't breathe. He quickly let go of her and placed his hands on her waist to pull back, but she refused to be separated from him as she held on tighter with her arms around him and said desperately,

"I don't need to breathe, just don't let go off me!"

"Hey! I'm not going anywhere, okay? I promise!" He assured her before he wrapped his right arm back around her and turned around with her so that the rain which was falling to the side mostly hit the bare skin on his back and blocked her as he said, "But, let's get you inside and out of the rain, alright?"

She blew out a breath and nodded against him. It took her another few seconds of them standing together between the car and the open driver's side door before Quil felt her hesitantly pull her shaking arms back from around his neck as she took a small step away from him.

"Screw it." Quil muttered to her as he felt her give a small gasp of surprise when he pulled her back the six inches she'd managed to move before he put his hands under her butt and yanked her up so that he could carry her while she continued to hold to him. She quickly tightened her arms securely around his neck again in what seemed to be pure relief as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He slid his right arm under her to support her weight as he shut the door of the car with his left hand.

"My backpack is still in the car." She muttered softly to him without moving her face away from that spot on his neck that seemed to be her favorite.

"Do you need it?" He asked, wanting to just get her inside and feeling safe and comfortable before he demanded the rest of the story from her.

"It has the keys in it…" she admitted with a shrug.

Quil sighed, wanting to leave it behind since they were almost inside the garage already. He took three steps back and opened the door to the passenger side of the car, he quickly reached in to grab her bag before he shut the door behind him and then wrapped his left arm with her backpack back under her as he quickly moved inside of the garage and out of the wind and rain that were picking up and getting colder. He hit the button to close the garage door as he passed since he knew he wasn't planning on coming back down to do anymore work any time soon.

He quickly jogged up the stairs carrying Claire in his arms as he peeked over the rail to find Butch still content to chew on his toy as he laid on his bed in the garage instead of following them up to the apartment. Quil opened the door and walked in where he dropped her backpack on the floor next to her duffle bag and then was finally able use his free arm to rub her back softly as he let the door swing shut behind them while he carried her to the bed. He grabbed the sheet and blanket that were lying in an unmade pile halfway up and threw them aside as he climbed on the mattress on his knees while still holding Claire. He paused for a moment as he kicked his Nikes off without looking back before he moved into the middle of the bed and then gently laid down on his side with Claire in his arms. He let go of her with his right arm to reach back over her for the sheet he had tossed aside. He pulled it all the way up and over their heads so that the light coming through was now tinted blue like his bed.

Claire gave a small chuckle, clearly amused at the make shift fort over their heads. It was what they had always done whenever she was scared as a child. She pulled back from him enough to put her hands against his still bare chest since he had never put on a shirt and looked up at his face beside hers.

"Better?" He asked softly as he rub her back with his arm that was underneath her while he brought his right hand up to softly stroke the hair from her face away that had fallen out of her braid.

She smiled at him as she nodded before she said confidently, "I always feel safe like this."

Quil nodded his head and said with a smile, "I remember."

They just laid there in silence under the sheet as Quil soothingly rubbed her back. He wanted to ask more details about what had happened with the dean but could tell she didn't want to talk about it and decided he would give her more time to be comfortable before he pushed her about it.

"Why don't you tell me about the rest of your day?" He suggested as he stroked her hair.

She seemed to tear up again as she bit down hard on her lip before she sucked in a breath and then shook her head like she just couldn't talk about it.

"Okay." He agreed softly while he reached his thumb over from the hair at the side of her face to rub softly against her bottom lip until she eased her teeth off of it. "We don't have to talk. We can just lay here."

She seemed relieved as she looked up at him gratefully and nodded her head. She closed her eyes and blew out a breath before she whispered, "Will you please hold me?"

Quil immediately pulled her into his chest as he kissed her forehead with his hand against the back of her head to hold her there and said confidently, "Always."

He left his lips against her forehead and pulled his hand down from her head to wrap it securely around her back. He felt her pull her right hand against the skin of his chest until it was placed directly over his heart where she pressed as much of her skin that was free from her cast against it's even beat.

They stayed that way for over fifteen minutes, until Quil's body heat brought the temperature under the sheet from chill, to comfortable, to warm, to a furnace that somehow Claire didn't seem to mind. She just breathed against him while she felt his heartbeat under her fingers. Quil just held onto her as he occasionally rubbed her back under his hands but mostly just held her securely against him knowing that that would be the only way to really comfort her.

He felt Claire's body relax in degrees with the temperature until she seemed completely over the initial shock of whatever had happened with the dean. Quil wanted to ask her for more details but she made no move to start a conversation and she seemed content to keep lying silently in his arms, so he didn't make a move to push her into it.

When the temperature seemed to reach its peak, he noticed Claire start to feel tense against him again. He glanced down at her to notice her breathing start to speed up along with the pulse he could see against her neck. He was about to ask what had her upset again when she surprised him by leaning the few inches into him and softly pressing her lips under his jaw where she was so good at kissing in a way that felt intoxicating. He let out a soft chuckle in response when he realized the real reason for her tension and accelerated heartbeat. He felt his own heart rate pick up under Claire's fingers in response.

"Claire?" He whispered while she pulled the fingers of both her hands softly down his chest to his stomach while kissing his neck and making him tingle in response.

He suddenly noticed that this situation was remarkably similar to the one that had come to his mind when he had caught her scent in his shower that morning.

"Yes?" She whispered happily with her lips against the skin on his jaw.

Her breath against his skin gave him chills despite the burning temperature under the sheet. He felt his left hand slide up the back of her jacket in response without ever consciously deciding to do so. The movement pulled up the bottom of her soft t-shirt a few inches so that his right hand could feel the sweat beading on her lower back. It suddenly sent his long-term non-existence (until recently) sex-drive into a frenzy as he managed to get out surprisingly casually, "What are you doing?" in response to her.

She shrugged innocently against him before she said with her lips now pressed to the skin just below his ear. "… Just… not thinking…."

Quil could feel his heart pounding in his chest and barely had enough time to acknowledge the small voice in the back of his mind that questioned if what was happening was really a good idea before he turned his head to find her lips that he could still feel pressed against him as he replied almost urgently,

"I can help with that…."

After that he was just _not thinking_ as well while he kissed Claire under the hot sheet. She pulled her fingers up from against his stomach and chest to put her hand against his face and feed her fingers through the back of his hair when she pulled her leg up against his hip and wrapped it around him, entrapping him in her close embrace. He didn't mind it though as his right hand found its way farther up her back under her t-shirt as he tried to reign things in in his own mind to remember the real reason Claire was trying to _just not think_ right now.

When she seemed to reach a point of getting really worked up when she started breathing heavily against him and becoming more aggressive as she pushed her body up against his and tightened her leg around him, he took all of the self-control that he had had to develop over fifteen years of being a wolf with shared thoughts and used every last ounce of it to not respond to her other than to pull his right hand out of her shirt where it was playing with the lace against the back of her bra and his left hand from where it was squeezing the skin of her thigh just under the fabric of her shorts and brought them up to pull her face back from his.

She complied for a moment but only resentfully as she bit her lip and shook her head before she brought her hands up from his chest to grab onto his wrists where she pulled against them until she freed her face enough to start kissing him again.

He willingly kissed her in response as he moved his right hand down from her face to her hip where her leg was wrapped around him. She held onto his wrist and followed his hand down while she clung onto his forearm. He used his gripped on her hip to move her with him and onto her back as he rolled over on top of her, finally breaking free of the sheet with his head. He forced himself into control as he pulled back from her lips and hovered over her. He put his head down to his chest and took a couple deep breaths to try to regain control even as her body was pinned under his and her fingers were touching his too hot skin.

Finally, after having to sing the national anthem in his mind the same way he did to remove himself from his personal thoughts and get into pack mentality before he phased, he regained enough composure to look back at her face and see her biting down on her lip again while pulling her hands up to his shoulders as she watched him and waited for him to look back up at her. He almost kissed her again in response but took another breath, so he could manage to say roughly,

"Claire, I _get_ that you don't want to think about today, and I am _all_ for helping with that. _But,_ first I really need to know what happened."

She blew out a rough breath before she let go of his shoulders to rub her hands against her face and smear around the makeup she had cried off.

"I really don't want to talk about _or_ think about it anymore…. I just want to stay here with _YOU_ touching me for forever." She answered into her hands.

"I thought you said the dean didn't touch you!?" He asked immediately concerned about the way she had said she just wanted _him_ to touch her like she didn't want someone else to.

She pulled her hands up against her hair as she exhaled again and rolled her eyes a little before she said, " _He_ didn't…"

Quil quickly brought his legs up under him so that he could pull himself up into a kneeling position leaning over her as he brought both of his hands to hold Claire's waist protectively.

" _WHO_ touched you!?" He immediately demanded.

He couldn't believe he had wasted so much time since she had gotten back almost half an hour ago, on not finding out the details of what was going on at that philandering institution masquerading as a school that she went to.

"It doesn't matter." She told him sincerely as she dropped her hair to place her hands against his biceps and hold steadily onto him. "I shut it down real quick and I really doubt it's going to happen again after he saw the way Bennett reacted to seeing him grab me."

"Someone _grabbed you_?" He asked in complete disbelief.

He focused on tightening his core to contain the heat there so that the vibrations wouldn't start to shake Claire with her waist in his hands.

She shrugged as she looked at him before she said, "Just my wrist when I tried to walk away…"

"…. Bennett better have beaten the shit out of him…." Quil responded immediately while accidentally letting a quiver escape that did indeed shake Claire lying below him.

"More like almost ripped him apart with Wolf teeth…. He almost phased in the middle of lunch in front of half the student body." She told him while biting her lip like she wasn't sure she should admit it.

Quil let go of her so that he could completely sit up as he processed how naïve he had been to be relieved that Bennett would be there to watch out for her when he didn't even have enough self-control to handle things when they _did_ happen. She quickly sat up in response and watched him as she grabbed the sheet around them and pulled it over her lap where she started twisting it in her hands.

"What'd he do?" Quil asked bracingly while wondering if he should have already tracked down Bennett to do damage control.

Claire shrugged again and said, "Nothing…. I'd never let him phase like that in the middle of school."

"What did _you_ do?" He asked nervously.

She didn't respond other than to suddenly break eye-contact before she said, "I contained it…. I just held onto him and whispered to him until he pulled it back in."

"… Wow, he must have _really_ loved you…" Quil remarked off-handedly while thinking she would have been better off strapping a nuclear bomb to her chest since she would have been in the same amount of danger of exploding while clinging onto Bennett when he had lost control.

She looked up at him in shocked surprise, so he explained. "It would take a _lot_ of caring about a person to pull back a spontaneous combustion like that and not hurt them."

"You did it." She said quickly, obviously thinking of the time on First Beach when she had talked him down.

He rolled his eyes before he said, "I _love_ you, Claire, remember? And _I've_ been doing this for a decade and a half." He looked at her pointedly and she squirmed as she said,

"… I didn't know what else to do… I couldn't just abandon him when he needed me like that…."

"I know, Claire… I'm not mad _at you_. I just need to figure out what to do about this shit-storm of a high school you go to…." He told her truthfully while doing nothing to hide the frustration in his voice.

"What do you mean?" She asked in obvious confusion.

"You can't spend eight hours a day with your only defense against being sexually harassed is a six-week-old wolf that needs you to literally hold him together to keep from exploding in class." He answered reasonably.

"Well what can we do about it?" She asked sincerely.

"I don't know, but that's what I'm going to find out as soon as you tell me the whole story of _everything_ that happened today." He told her confidently as he put his hand back on her thigh on top of the sheet and gave it a soft squeeze.

She smiled up at him a little discouraged as she started to work backward from everything that happened with the dean, to being all but assaulted by an eighteen-year-old asshole that had no idea what hell he had just brought down on himself, to being treated like a pariah in every class, to Bennett teasing her about showering at his place that morning, finally, giving Quil the information he needed to handle the situation. Which is exactly what he was going to do.

 **Claire:**

Claire blew out a breath of relief twenty-five minutes later as she finally finished recounting to Quil the details of everything that had happened. It had been painful to relive it but like poison being sucked from a wound the immediate discomfort was well worth the instantaneous relief she felt for having it out of her system. She looked down at both of her hands that were wrapped around one of his in her lap.

She heard him blow out a large breath that she hadn't realized he had been holding in. She looked up at him to see him looking past her out the window without really seeming to see out. He seemed deep in thought for a moment before he squeezed her hands tightly and said determinedly,

"Okay."

Claire just watched him as she continued to wait for his full reaction.

"Where's your phone?" He asked, looking at her for the first time.

She suddenly realized she was relieved that he wasn't looking at her any differently. She had to admit that a very small part of her had been afraid he would somehow view her differently or love her less.

"Um…" she said distracted by meeting his gaze and getting lost in her thoughts as she stared into his dark eyes. She finally processed what he was asking and let go of his hand to pat the pockets of her shorts and then her blazer.

"There." She answered, pointing at her backpack from where he had dropped it on the floor next to the door.

"Okay, you look tired. I'm going to use your phone, but you should lay down and get some rest." He said lovingly as he used his free hand to softly stroke the side of her face.

Her face immediately melted into his hand. He was right- she was completely exhausted. She closed her eyes as she squeezed his hand in hers as she asked,

"Why do you need my phone?"

"Because I don't have your dad's office number in mine."

She just opened her eyes to look at him questioningly. As far as she knew he had never called her father's office before.

"I told you, Claire, I'm going to take care of this, alright?" He told her confidently as he started to pull back from her to get off the bed.

"Quil…" Claire said in concern while holding onto his hand before he could slip it out of hers. "What are you going to do?"

He blew out a breath as he looked away from her before he looked back to say, "You trust me, right?"

"Of course. More than anything." She answered immediately.

He smiled at her, clearly pleased with her answer before he brought his hand back to her face and then leaned in to connect his lips with hers again.

Claire's head was spinning, and she actually forgot what they had been talking about by the time he pulled back a minute later and said,

"Relax. Get some rest. I'm going to be on the phone for a few minutes so just take a nap or something, okay? -What?" He asked when he saw her hesitation.

"… I just don't really want to be alone right now…" she explained hesitantly, knowing she was being ridiculous, it wasn't like she had been attacked or anything.

"Hey." He said softly as he put both of his hands on her face to force her to look at him and pulled her slightly closer, she was kneeling on the mattress next to him standing by the bed. "I'm just going to be on the stairs outside the door. I'll have Butch come lay up here with you, okay? If you need anything just say my name."

She nodded her head and smiled appreciatively at him.

"Quil?" She asked barely above a whisper since he was only a few inches from her still.

"Yeah?" He answered in the same soft tone she had used.

"I love you." She admitted with a shrug. She somehow felt like she was saying it for the first time all over again.

He chuckled at her response before he said confidently, "I love you too, Claire. You're the only woman I've ever loved and I'm going to take care of you."

She felt the pure relief that came from trusting that he would handle the situation so that she could somehow miraculously return to school the next day and not have to worry about the dean or probably anyone else for that matter.

"Thank you." She said sincerely.

He brushed her lips with a quick, soft kiss in response before he let her face go and said, "Get some rest." as he backed to the door.

She nodded her head as she started pulling at her shoes that she had never taken off. He flipped the light switch so that she was in semi-darkness with the only light coming through the slats in the blinds behind her as he opened the door and called, "Butch! Come look after Claire." causing Claire to chuckle in response as she heard Butch immediately running up the stairs.

Quil held the door opened for him as he ran past him and then jumped on the bed and started licking Claire's face. She wrapped her arms around him as she looked back up at Quil who winked at her before quickly grabbing her bag and stepping outside of the door and letting it smack shut behind him.

Claire laid down and closed her eyes as she wrapped her arms around Butch lying next to her. She felt oddly safer with the light off -the same way she had felt comforted from the weight of the sheet over her head. Quil's apartment had always been a safe place for her and she felt the peace that came from being there and knowing that Quil would do whatever it took to make sure she was okay.

She could hear his voice from the other side of the door. It sounded like he was talking to her father. She hadn't realized how upset he was by the situation with the dean until she overheard him recounting it to her dad. She couldn't make out all the individual words but could hear the anger and frustration in his voice. After a few minutes he grew quiet and she could tell he was listening to whatever her dad was saying to him about it.

"Do you think that'd work?" She heard Quil say in response to whatever her dad suggested.

He was speaking quieter now, so she couldn't tell what he was saying anymore. She just listened to the general sounds and tones of his voice while she laid on the bed petting Butch. She was surprised a few minutes later when she heard him say distinctly,

"What happened?"

She knew immediately from his authoritative tone he must be talking to Bennett. She perked her head up from the pillow to listen better at the same time Butch perked his own head up from her chest in the same way, clearly responding to Quil's tone. She was disappointed when she couldn't hear what he was saying or what Bennett must have been telling him. She blew out a breath and let her head fall back on the pillow. She was nervous that Bennett's description of the events at lunch would just upset Quil further and she didn't want him to actually hurt Caleb (at least not very much). Ultimately, she just really didn't want to worry about it anymore. She trusted Quil, so she relaxed and was surprised with how quickly and seamlessly she fell asleep.

She woke up with a start maybe an hour later. Nothing had really changed, Butch was still lying on her chest and she could still hear Quil on the phone on the stairs on the other side of the door. She couldn't tell who he was talking to but what he was saying made her a little nervous.

"….. I know, I know…. I mean I'd kick his ass if I thought it'd help the situation _at all_ …."

She wasn't even sure who he was taking about.

"… Robert says this is all we can do, and the rest is out of our hands…."

Well clearly, he wasn't on the phone with her father, but she doubted he was still speaking to Bennett.

"… Yeah… I'm just not sure it's going to be enough. I'd rather just pull her out. She can do that online homeschool crap if she has to but I don't want her anywhere near that school anymore….."

He wanted to pull her out? Claire tried to remain calm as she brought her hands to her face to rub her forehead.

She tried to consider the pros and cons of every option. Being pulled out in February of her Sophomore year wouldn't be the worst thing. Especially since she had essentially been ostracized and the thought of just walking away from it all was tempting. She'd probably be able to take more credits and then maybe even graduate a year early. Now that she and Quil were finally together and sooner than she had ever anticipated (not that she was complaining about it) it didn't seem like a bad idea to finish with high school sooner rather than later. She knew that Quil would have a lot fewer reservations about their relationship when she was no longer a high school student. Even if she couldn't do anything about her age she could at least be graduated. Plus, if she wasn't in school then she would have a lot more time during the day to spend with him and with Jamie. She would probably even be able to pull Jamie out of daycare. She hated that he had to spend so much of everyday there with bratty kids and workers who didn't really care about him. Between preschool and Jamie starting kindergarten in the fall she figured she'd have enough time to work on school during the day and then be able to be home with him until her dad got home at 3 or 4 each day.

For one moment she was completely on board with Quil's desire to pull her out of her high school as she continued to listen to his side of the conversation.

"…. Yeah…. yeah, you're probably right….. no, I will ….. okay … okay…. Yeah, I'll talk to you later ….."

By the time she heard him opening the door to come back in she knew that for as many benefits of potentially finishing high school online had, it wasn't what she really wanted to do. As much as she hated being treated like a freak at school she knew that it wouldn't last much longer before the very short memory of high school students forgot about her and moved on to the next more interesting thing. Plus, there was one major reason she just couldn't stomach the idea of walking away from her school.

As Quil walked through the door he looked down at Claire in surprise.

"Hey, I thought you would be asleep under all the covers." He said with a smile.

She returned his soft smile and merely shrugged in response before she gestured for him to join her on the bed.

"You cold?" he asked knowingly since she was still on top of the bed with only Butch lying next to her for warmth. "It's turned pretty nasty out there. The snow is really coming down."

Claire hadn't even realized that it was snowing outside but that did explain why the temperature in the apartment had dropped considerably.

"What's going on?" she asked concerned as he came to the side of his bed.

He blew out a sigh before he patted Butch on the other side of Claire and then shooed him off the bed. Claire was about to object to his sending him away until he quickly hopped over top of her to replaced Butch on her right side.

"Well..." he said reasonably as he stretched his left arm out and snaked it under Claire before she turned to snuggle into his warm side. She noticed that he still hadn't put on a shirt as she brought her hand up to softly trace the planes of his chest and secretly hope he wouldn't notice.

"So, I talked to your dad…. He's been on and off the phone with your principal and the superintendent of the school district. He's made an official complaint of sexual harassment against the dean. There is going to be an investigation and in the mean time they've issued a restraining order against him so any issues you have with discipline will be personally handled by the vice-principal now." He told her with a wink obviously teasing her about needing school discipline.

She just nodded her head at all of his words as she bit her lip thinking about the situation that already seemed to require the involvement of half a dozen people. She knew the vice-principal was a direct, down-to-business type of woman that Claire had a lot of respect for and she had to admit she was relieved at the thought of dealing with her instead of with the creepy dean.

"Okay." She breathed out with a sigh.

"He shouldn't bother you again, but if he does….. _well_ ….. let's just say this is all the patience I have for dealing with this situation through the system…. I'll handle it myself next time there is an issue…" Quil told her intensely as he flipped onto his side to wrap both arms around her and make eye contact with her.

She smiled a little hesitantly before she teased, "You don't think I can handle him myself?"

Quil grinned at the thought before he said, "Oh I'm sure you could do plenty of damage…. I'd just like to keep your record clean."

She shook her head next to his on the pillow as she said, "Un-uh. You've got it all wrong…. I need to be the one to commit any crimes since I still won't be tried as an adult…"

He laughed at her joke before he pulled her close and tickled her sides in response.

"Okay, what else?" Claire said seriously, getting back to the heart of the matter.

"Well, I spoke to Bennett." Quil said and she couldn't tell from his tone if the conversation had upset him more or less.

"'Kay…" she answered a little hesitantly.

"He broke Caleb's nose after you left lunch." Quil answered like it was nothing out of the ordinary for Bennett to do.

Claire gasped as she brought both of her hands up to cover her shocked mouth and accidentally punched Quil with her cast.

"Sorry! He what!? Oh, he shouldn't have done that! He's going to be in so much trouble!"

Quil shook his head. "It turns out that the dean was _distracted_ with _you_ while it was happening, so the only real trouble Bennett has to deal with is the fact that Macy is apparently beyond pissed about the whole thing… Caleb should be grateful too. If Bennett hadn't done some damage than _I_ would have, and I wouldn't have stopped at just breaking his _nose_."

"Yikes!" Claire said as she bit down on her lip in stress. "Maybe I should talk to Macy… maybe I can smooth things over with her and Bennett. Explain that things weren't what they looked like and that Bennett was defending her just as much as he was defending me when he hit Caleb…."

Quil brought his hand up to softly rubbed her lip the way he did when he wanted her to stop biting it so hard.

"Naw, Baby. You have enough to worry about. Don't worry about their problems. Macy needs to do some growing up and letting things go if the two of them are really going to make it work. Bennett doesn't like to talk about it, but I know he's getting frustrated with how difficult she's being about you…. He needs her, but he's starting to not want her around…"

"Can he even do that?" Claire asked surprised. Macy was Bennett's imprint after all and Claire's almost fifteen years of experience with imprintation had taught her that Bennett should basically be unconditionally invested in Macy no matter what her attitude was.

"Yeah," Quil admitted, "He doesn't _HAVE_ to be with her. It's obviously ideal and what's best for him to be with his imprint but really, he just needs constant contact with her and to know that she's okay for him to be. He just told me he's thinking of going to spend a few weeks with his dad in Cleveland. I think he thinks if he can get some physical distance from her maybe she won't be too much for him to deal with anymore…."

"Geeze." Claire responded. "Poor Macy….." it was a lot easier to feel sorry for her when she thought about how it must feel to know that Bennett would never have chosen her. "Poor Bennett…" she mused.

"Yeah." Quil agreed. "I don't think he was prepared to have a high maintenance girlfriend after dating you…"

"Well I don't think that the issues _I've_ caused in their relationship have been because I was too good of a girlfriend." Claire replied.

Quil shook his head before he surprised her when he said tenderly, "No, really Claire, you're an _amazing_ girlfriend. I'm _so_ lucky."

She smiled up at him very happily surprised.

"Thanks, honey." she said sounding touched and emotional while rubbing the side of his face softly.

"This whole thing with Bennett and Macy has really made me realize that I won the freaking lottery when I imprinted on you." He told her truthfully as he held her tight and absentmindedly rubbed his hand up her back. "I literally could have been the one who imprinted on Macy just like Bennett did and _ugh_ " (he shuddered around her at the thought) "I just don't know how I got to be the one who imprinted on you and poor Bennett ended up with her…." he confessed while looking lovingly down at her in his arms.

"… Well….." she said a little hesitantly as she rubbed her hand on the side of his arm and chose to follow the movement of her hand with her eyes instead of maintaining eye contact while she admitted, "I feel pretty lucky that you actually _want_ to be with me….. I waited a long time for that…"

She looked up at him in surprise when he laughed. She bit her lip and tried to hide her blushing at her confession of basically pining for him.

"A long time?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah…" she admitted with a shrug while she was sure she was definitely blushing now and looked down to avoid his eyes but unfortunately was only met with the sight of his bare chest which only made her blush even harder.

"Claire…. You're not even an adult, remember? You literally didn't have to wait _at all_. Sixteen is barely even legal to be in a relationship with an adult." He pointed out good-naturedly as he laughed at her logic.

She just shrugged in response, not wanting to admit to how long she had been waiting to grow up enough for him to actually be interested in her.

He reached around to grab her chin and force her to look up at him, she noticed his pupils dilate and his eyes darken as he said, "But rest assured… whatever else is between us, I _definitely WANT you_."

Her heartbeat kicked up in response and she was actually embarrassed by how much she was blushing at his comment until he laughed and tickled her, breaking her out of her own tension as she started giggling and squirming in response.

She was surprised when he kept torturing her instead of just an initial tickle to tease her like usual. She was laughing hard and trying to squirm away from his hands when he hit her soft spot just under her ribs, causing her to squeal as she tried to roll away from him. He refused to let her go and followed her as he flipped his legs around her and pinned her arms down with his knees while his hands went under her blazer and t-shirt to tickle the bare skin of her waist while she couldn't catch her breath enough to even beg him to stop.

She laughed uncontrollably when he pulled his legs down from her arms and bent over as he lifted the fabric of her shirt and blazer away to press his lips to her stomach and blow a ridiculously loud raspberry on her stomach. She figured she must have been about eight-years-old the last time he had even done that and couldn't breathe she was laughing so hard.

He tickled her sweet spot extra hard for a second before he finally stopped to let her catch her breath. She heard his chuckle as he pulled his left leg back so that he could lay his body out across the bed while he fell on his stomach looking up at her with his hands still around the sides of her waist. She ran her now free hands through his hair with his chin pressed against the spot on her stomach where he had blown the raspberry. She was having a difficult time stopping giggling long enough to catch her breath and she had tears leaking out the corners of her eyes. Her sides were starting to ache from laughing so hard when he said,

"I'll never get tired of that."

"Hmm?" She asked as she pulled her casted right hand up from his hair to wipe the tears from the sides of her eyes.

"Listening to you laugh… it's the best sound in the world."

"Aww!" She responded feeling like putty in his hands, her heart was so melted by him. She brought her hand back down, so she could use both of them to comb through his hair from his temples to the back of his neck.

He bent his face to softly kiss the bare skin of her stomach under him as he tightened his arms back underneath her that were still wrapped around her. She knew he had only meant it as a simple, loving gesture but she heard her own small but sharp involuntary intake of breath in response.

She suddenly snapped her eyes closed when she felt his lips against the skin of her stomach again. This time it felt very intentional as he started to explore her skin with his lips. She felt his warm tongue trace a small line from one of her hips to a few inches south of her belly button and her back seemed to arch up of its own accord so that her skin could meet his lips. She realized she was tightly gripping the skin of his upper arm when she felt the muscle flex under her hand as it tensed under her curved back. Her fingers of her right hand, that were sticking out of her cast, were tangled in his hair as she kept flexing her fingers out before closing them into a fist as she felt his slow progress heating the skin of her midriff everywhere his lips touched her.

She was feeling an intense combination of what seemed to be a high of pure desire mixed with sheer panic as she felt Quil's kiss hit the top of her shorts and realized they were somehow unbuttoned. She had no idea how they could possibly be undone since his arms were still wrapped tightly under her back and she hadn't unbuttoned them but when his lips hit the elastic of her underwear that she realized was the grey cotton work out thong she had put on after her shower that morning her panic won out.

"Qu-il?" She stuttered out roughly somehow making it two syllables.

Her eyes were still closed, and she quickly snapped them open to look down at him as she felt him pull back and blow out a deep trembling breath. He looked up at her face as he let go of his arms wrapped tightly around her, holding her back arched up tightly against him, as he suddenly put his hands on the mattress on either side of her and brought himself up a foot above her like it had just suddenly occurred to him what had been happening.

"Oh!" He said shocked. He was staring down at her open shorts and she followed his gaze down to see that thankfully her zipper was still fully up even though she could see the black elastic of her underwear hanging out of the open space where her button was supposed to be.

"Shit.. I did that..." He whispered regretfully. He said it so softly she wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or her.

"I don't see how you could have…. I think it just popped open." She said roughly and realized that her whole body was trembling under him.

He shook his head as he looked up to meet her eyes. "No. I did it." He said certainly. "I undid the button with my teeth."

Claire looked away as she gulped nervously in response and bit down on her lip. She looked back at him when she heard him groan. He was watching her reaction and she could see desire in his dark eyes that looked almost black and made her feel more nervous than ever. He rolled his head down to his chest and blew out a breath before he pulled away from her to roll onto his back next to her. She could hear him breathing deep heavy breaths, apparently trying to calm himself. Claire stayed frozen in place, too nervous to stir in case she sparked something else in him with her movement. She suddenly felt like she had been playing with fire and now was unprepared to deal with the inferno she had sparked.

After a few moments of Quil breathing heavily and Claire barely breathing at all he suddenly turned sharply to look up at her before he shoved himself up from his spot next to her waist until he was level next to her on the bed.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked nervously as he put a hand on the side of her cheek.

She swallowed and looked back at the ceiling before she nodded against his palm.

"Claire," he said so intensely that she looked back over at him. "I'm sorry. That was….. stupid…." He said like he was at a loss for words.

She wanted to shrug it off and move on but forced herself to take a breath and meet his gaze and then say,

"It's fine… I just don't think I'm ready for….. that…." She finished lamely, wishing she had better words for talking about it instead of sounding so awkward talking about sex with him.

"I know!" He answered immediately and insistently. "Claire, I know that! And I never meant to put pressure on you just now. That wasn't my intention! I just…. It's just…. It's just been a _long_ time since I felt that worked up…..- no scratch that- no one has ever made me feel like you do and I just got caught up in how much I wanted you…"

She had a few mixed feelings for a second in response to his confession, mostly thinking about how many other women he must have been with in the past and what that meant for her now, but she decided to concentrate on his specific reaction to _her_ and smiled in response. The truth was she'd never responded to anyone (even in her limited experience) the same way that she responded to him either.

She reached up to touch his face as she softly and quickly kissed him, enjoying the feeling of his surprisingly soft, and full lips against hers if only briefly.

"It's okay." She said honestly, "I just want to make sure we're on the same page when it comes to a…. _physical_ relationship _."_

He blew out a breath as he nodded understandingly at her.

"Are you mad?"

He sounded so nervous when he asked, and Claire laughed in response.

"No! Of course, not…."

He seemed to exhale in relief as she ran her hand through his hair. He smiled at her before he reached up to kiss her forehead and wrap his arms around her.

"I promise I'll be good. I want you to be able to trust me." He told her sincerely.

"I _DO_ trust you!" She told him immediately as she pulled herself closer to him.

" _Okay_! Well maybe you trust me a little too much…" he said suggestively in response to her close contact.

"Oh sorry!" She laughed as she pulled herself back from him a few inches so that her body was no longer pressed directly up against his.

"Okay! So, what were we talking about?" He asked trying to get back to the conversation they had been having before getting so distracted.

"Um…." Claire said trying to think back. "Macy and Bennett…."

"Right! And how they don't have what we have because we are just _THAT_ good together." Quil smirked as he tightened his arms around her, pulling her slightly closer to him.

"Exactly!" Claire said with a laugh.

"'Kay, so the story is that Bennett was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy while you two were still together, and that's why you knew exactly how to handle it when you held onto him at lunch. He was 'seizing' so hard it was shaking you along with him. He already spread the story at school." Quil told her seriously.

Claire rolled her eyes at the idea that Bennett would fake a diagnosis but nodded her head agreeing to the story. "Got it."

"So I think you should be all set to go back to school tomorrow. Bennett said that both of Caleb's eyes were already black before he even made it to the nurse, so I doubt that he'll be at school tomorrow but if he is let me know and I'll take care of it." Quil told her with a steel edge to his voice.

"I can't believe Bennett actually hit him." Claire said in disbelief as she pulled a hand through her hair that was almost completely pulled out of its braid.

"Well trust me, if he hadn't I would have…. I can't believe the asshole thought that he could-" Quil started when Claire put her fingers over his lips to look at him sternly and shake her head.

"He's just an eighteen-year-old idiot trying to get some action, Quil. Yeah, he was a giant douche when he grabbed my wrist, but he never threatened me, and I really don't think he was trying to hurt me."

"Claire!" Quil said in exasperation. "That doesn't justify what he did to you."

"I'm not saying it does! But I don't see how what he did justifies physical violence in retaliation." She immediately argued.

Quil rolled his eyes before he said, "Did he put his hands on you without permission?"

"…Well…. Yeah, but…."

He put his fingers on her lips to stop her talking the same way she had to him.

"No 'buts'. Did he?" He insisted.

"Yes." She answered uncomfortably.

"So, I'm just interested in returning the favor. Maybe then he'll get the message that no means no and it's never okay to touch without consent." He answered simply.

Claire just shrugged not caring about Caleb enough to argue with Quil to protect him besides finding Quil's logic to be pretty flawless.

"There's something else we need to talk about though…." She segued.

"What?" Quil asked suspiciously, "Please, tell me there isn't someone _else_ who tried to touch you!"

"No!" Claire answered immediately and then hedged. "But…"

"What!?" He snapped sharply.

He was clearly frustrated after everything that had happened that day and was taking some of it out on her. She gave him a sharp look in response to his tone.

"Sorry." He breathed as he pulled a hand from around her back and dragged it down his face. "I just don't think I can handle much more happening at your school…" he sounded sincerer when he said, "But I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm sorry." and then kissed her forehead repentantly.

"Nothing else happened. I just wanted to discuss something." Claire answered thinking that she should have waited for a better time to bring it up.

He blew out a breath and then wrapped his arm back around her and said, "Okay, what is it?"

She shook her head and hedged again, "… Just…. nothing…. it's….. we can just talk about it later."

"Claire?" He said softly.

"Yeah?" She answered looking at her fingers that were intertwined with her left hand on top of her cast and pressed to the top of his chest.

"Is it important to you?"

She thought about it for a second before she shrugged and said, "Kinda, I guess."

"Then it's important to me. So, let's talk about whatever it is that's important to both of us." He told her sincerely while pulling her chin up to look at him.

She took in a breath and held it for a solid second before she spit out, "I'm not going to pull out to be homeschooled online."

Quil looked surprised and confused at her pronouncement for a second before he said simply, "You heard that, huh?"

She shrugged again and asked, "Who were you talking to?"

"Jake." He answered quickly while never looking away from her face that he seemed to be studying.

"Jake?" She asked in surprised confusion.

"He's my alpha….. Bennett reports his shit to me and I report mine to him…." He explained and then, "Sorry." in response to the look she gave him for his swearing.

"Even about me?" She asked surprised.

"Especially about you." He answered immediately but when Claire blushed and bit her lip as she looked at him he said, "Well, I don't report _everything_ that happens between us but when something requires potential legal action then yeah, I need to report back to my alpha."

Claire nodded as she ran a hand up and down the side of his arm. She was lost in thought when he asked,

"So, why is pulling out completely off the table?"

He sounded regretful.

"…Eh…." Claire struggled for words before saying, "…. It feels like a cop-out…."

"A cop-out?" He asked in disbelief. "Your safety isn't a joke, Claire. If the harassment doesn't stop and I mean _immediately_ then I think you need to be prepared to walk away."

"I can't just walk away, Quil…."

"Why not!? What could possibly be keeping you there!?" He asked with one of his hands in the air for emphasis.

"If I pull out I won't be able to cheer anymore, will I?" She finally admitted.

"Cheerleading? You would willingly put yourselves through constant sexual harassment just to compete?" He asked in complete exasperation as he let go of his arms around her to roll onto his back and stare at the ceiling with his right arm still underneath her.

"No! Of course not!" She said immediately. She was about to try to explain herself better, but he spoke before she could.

"Then why would you take the option of pulling out to finish school online off the table without even _considering_ it!?" He was clearly frustrated that she didn't appreciate his apparent solution to all of her problems. "You don't even know that you wouldn't still be able to cheer if you were homeschooled. If anything, you'd have more time to devote to cheerleading."

"Why do you want me to pull out so bad?" She asked in confusion to his strong reaction.

"Claire…." He said in exasperation as he rubbed his hand over his face and shook his head.

"What? Why are you so set on keeping me from finishing high school?" She asked starting to feel defensive and upset.

When he gave her a sharp, angry look she followed his lead and turned from her side, where she was facing him inches away from her, to her back so that she was a foot away from him and looking at the ceiling. The movement made her realize that her shorts were still unbuttoned, and she immediately buttoned them back together as Quil said sharply,

"First off, I _never_ said _anything_ about you dropping out! So, don't say that I did! _YOU_ are definitely going to finish high school, or I'll be damned. Secondly, you need to be mature enough to consider the options that are best for you, not just the options that are the most fun. That's what adults do and if you want to be treated like an adult then you have to act like one first."

She thought she might have strained a muscle in her neck she flipped her head so fast to give him a nasty look. She had gone from slightly agitated to completely pissed at him in just the space it took for him to speak.

" _Excuse me?_?" She asked in a deadly tone but continued before giving him a chance to respond. Her voice rose in anger as she said, "Who do you think you are!? You don't get to make decisions for me, Quil! I'm sorry if that pisses you off, but just because something is what you want doesn't make it what's best for me or have you forgotten that already? I didn't realize I was so immature that you needed to be the adult in my life to decide things _for me_! Otherwise I might make some incredibly immature decisions like getting drunk with my friends and letting a co-ed rub all up over me before booty calling you in the middle-"

She wasn't even close to finished but Quil had sat up and cut her off with,

"Wow, seriously!? You're just going to throw that in my face because you're mad at me? Yeah, if that's your argument for maturity you're aren't doing a great job of convincing me."

She had sat up while he was speaking so she quickly ripped off her blazer in agitation since she was feeling unusually sweaty and then yanked her useless hair tie out since her braid was now basically non-existent so that she could run a hand through her hair in frustration. Claire quickly slid to the side of the bed and stood up since she couldn't stand to be sitting next to him when she was so upset with him.

"It's not my job to convince you! You came after me, remember? I didn't beg you to overlook how _immature_ I am to be in a relationship with me! Geese, Quil! How on earth can you think that you're more qualified to make life decisions for me than _I am_!?"

She became more frustrated than ever when her tears of anger started falling down her face. She swiped at them in agitation and then painfully scrapped her face when she forgot the cast on her hand. She completely ignored the small sting, so she could say,

"I get that my whole life you've been the adult while I was the kid and that was the way it had to be, but if you can't view me as an equal than this relationship isn't going to work!"

He blew out a breath in agitation as he moved to the foot of the bed to hang his legs over it so that he was in a sitting position as he rubbed his hands over his face and then through his hair.

"Just stop and take a step back, Claire." He said reasonably without looking at her.

"No!" She snapped more agitated than ever. "Don't tell me what to do!"

"Claire, trust me, making decisions out of anger only leads to regret later." He said even as she could see his frustration in the tension coursing through his shoulders while he spoke into his hands covering his face.

"Yeah well maybe I'm just clearly seeing for the first time the decisions that are _mine_ to make!" She snapped out, refusing to listen to him when she was so angry at him.

He finally turned to look at her as he said like he was trying to prove a point, "Are you about to breakup with me?"

"No!" She said argumentatively before taking a breath to consider what he had asked. "….. Maybe…" she admitted reluctantly while trying to force herself to stop pacing at the side of the bed, Butch's head was following her back and forth and he looked like he was following a tennis match, but she was too upset to hold still and have a calm conversation.

"Okay! So, can we both just take a step back before we do something rash and stupid?" Quil said calmer than she was but not exactly relaxed either.

"Fine." She said simply before blowing a hugely frustrated breath out and then going to sit down on the edge of the bed at least a solid two feet away from him. They sat in frustrated silence for a moment before Claire spoke.

"Now what do we do?" She huffed.

He blew out his own breath in response before he said more calmly, "Now we apologize for the stupid shit we both just said."

Claire balled her hands into fists squeezing her right fingers tightly around her scratchy cast. She was _pissed_ but she knew that he was right, so she swallowed down all of the angry, spiteful things she wanted to spit out at him. She reminded herself of how much she loved him and how much he meant to her. She quickly realized it was everything. He meant _everything_ to her, so she took in a shaky breath before she said regretfully,

"Okay…. I'm sorry I pulled the breakup card… That was low and super lame."

She hadn't looked at him and had chosen to stare at the floor in front of her instead, but she noticed his posture seem to relax in her peripheral.

"Thanks." He said simply. He still sounded agitated, but he seemed sincere. "I'm sorry that I said you were being immature. You aren't and it's not fair for me to throw our age difference in your face."

She shrugged. She didn't really know how to respond especially since her eyes were tearing up again and she didn't want to admit it. She sniffed and wiped at her eyes quickly before saying, "I'm sorry I brought the booty-call back up. You're right, I forgave you and it's not fair for me to hold it against you again."

He blew out another breath before she saw him in the corner of her eye slide across the bed, closing the gap between them. He put his hand softly on her back pinning her hair there before he said,

"I'm sorry I tried to make the decision for you… you're right, it's your decision to make…. Just because it's what I want _for you_ doesn't make it what's best for you."

She nodded in response while still staring at the floor. It was quiet for a second before Quil put his hand on the side of her face to pulled at it until she was finally looking at him. As soon as she did she couldn't stop herself from saying,

"I just don't understand why you want me to leave my school so badly…."

She heard a noise catch in his throat and he quickly turned his face away from her. He was looking up at the ceiling and it became clear that whatever his reasoning was, it was the real issue he had been upset enough to pick a fight over it.

"Quil…." She said as she used her fingers around her cast to touch the far side of his face and pull at it to try to force him to now meet her eyes. He resisted her at first before he sighed and turned against her touch to look at her as she asked, "What aren't you telling me?"

He shrugged and then opened his mouth, "…eh…." He couldn't seem to get it out.

"What?" She asked speaking softly for the first time since her fiery anger had flared up so strong.

"I can't protect you! When you're gone at school for six hours a day, I can't do anything to protect you there!" He admitted as he turned to face his body to her while he looked at her.

He said it so angrily that she would have thought it was a control issue if it weren't for the fact that he had almost whispered it and she saw through his tone to realize how scared it actually made him.

She sighed before she snaked her arms under his and held herself to his chest as she squeezed him. She rubbed his bare back softly as she whispered quietly, "Oh, my Quil-Quiluete."

She could feel his slight shaking while he ran his fingers all the way through her long hair. She pulled back after a moment to look him in the eye and say,

"You know I had to prove how much I trust in you a _LOT_ this afternoon…."

He swallowed before he nodded his head while looking away from her. She pulled at his face again until he was looking back at her.

"Do you trust _me_?"

"Of course, Claire…." He whispered while he lifted his hands at his wrists to spread his fingers before letting them completely drop.

"How much?"

"A _lot_ …." He admitted. "I let you take my car, didn't I?" He tried to tease but she could see in his eye's how upset he was.

"Enough to let me decide what's best for me?" She asked sincerely.

He bit his lip and looked away again as he lifted his arms a few inches and then let them drop in agitation. "Claire….."

"Are we equals in this relationship or not, Quil?" She asked reasonably.

"Of course!" He said immediately while turning to look at her sharply. "But you're twisting things. I'm not trying to control you, I just need to know you're safe!"

"No, you don't." She said. He gave her a frustrated look and was about to respond but she cut him off. "Do I know everywhere _you_ go and everything _you_ do? No… Do I always know that _you're_ safe? No! My entire life you've tucked me into bed and then run off to fight _vampires_ , Quil! So, the question is whether or not you trust me enough to treat me as an equal and allow _me_ tomake the decision."

He stared at her in complete dismay for a solid thirty seconds. He opened his mouth multiple times to respond but then shut it again without saying anything.

"You're right….. I guess I just have to trust whatever decision you make…." He finally whispered.

He was shaking all over as he said it and Claire could see the tears pooling in the corners of his eyes.

"Hey!" She said softly. Her heart twisted to see him so torn up over her safety. "I love you! And I'm always going to factor in my safety into a decision, but you have to remember that I'm familiar with my school and if I didn't absolutely think I'd be safe there then I wouldn't go!"

Quil sighed as he wrapped his arms around her again. "I love you, too." He breathed softly with his lips pressed to her hair. "More than anything else. Just….. never forget that, okay?"

She nodded quickly against his neck, "Promise!"

He nodded in response and said, "Come on, I promised your dad that we would pick Jamie up from daycare so that he could go meet with the superintendent and your principal…."

He stood up and Claire stood too before wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging herself tightly to him. He seemed to melt around her as he held tightly to her like he was never going to let her go… which was fine because she never wanted him to.

"Thank you." She whispered sincerely.

"For what?" He asked confused.

"Well… I have a lot to thank you for today, but this time was for not letting me breakup with you." She answered truthfully.

He chuckled softly before he said just as sincerely, "Anytime, Baby."

She got chills down her back when he said it.

* * *

 **Whew! So many things just happened! Seriously dying to know reactions to this one! Things heating up between Quil and Claire (even if she's a little awkward about it!) Quil's reactions to what happened at school (I kinda think everyone anticipated more of a hotheaded reaction so I'm curious how this went over...) And of course Quil and Claire's big fight! Are you mad at Quil, mad at Claire, or just feel that they were both a bit stupid and both a bit right? or maybe just feel that you don't care at all and I'm just rambling on about fictional characters that I don't even own! All very possible! LOL let me know... or don't... I guess that's your prerogative... alright, I'm gonna pack!**


	12. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

Claire's heart was pounding out of her chest as she walked through the doors of her school with Rachel the next morning. She immediately brought her hand up to the necklace from Quil that she wore exclusively now as a permanent feature, in response to her nerves. Just touching it felt like a reminder of Quil's ever present and gentle love and helped calm her as she walked down the hall with what seemed to be the entire student body staring at her.

"Geeze." She heard Rachel mutter under her breath in response and she suddenly realized that Rachel must have thought Claire had been exaggerating about the reactions she had gotten the day before.

She saw Caleb from a distance turn to see what the distraction was. She could see the deep purple bruises under both of his eyes and a freshly set nose that was not a flattering shade of green with two white strips holding it into place. His broken nose looked so much worse than she had ever anticipated. She suddenly wondered what exactly Bennett had done to him because as soon as he caught sight of her he looked away and immediately walked away down the hall while leaving his locker hanging wide open.

Claire made it to her locker without incident, just a massive audience. She quickly started digging through it for what she would need for first period so that she would finally have a chance to hide her face. She was grateful that she had worn her hair down and that it fanned around her to help hide her. It was another five minutes before class would start and Rachel had already gone to meet up with Travis, so she was going to stay in her locker trying to keep from drawing attention to herself for as long as she possibly could.

She had already grabbed the books she would need and shoved her rain jacket in, so she just stood with her head down while fingering her necklace again. She desperately wished that she had been able to wake up that morning in Quil's bed again and seen him before going to school. She hadn't seen him since he had said goodnight the night before.

It had taken a few hours for the two of them to shake off the tension between them after their first real fight as a couple. Claire knew they were still in a good place, they had both already apologized and said their piece. They had gotten to the root of the issue and neither of them were prone to holding onto things. It just took them a few hours to get back to their usual level of casualness. She had noticed that it seemed like Quil refused to stop touching her in some way. She knew that he needed the contact to help calm himself again and she didn't object as he insistently intertwined his fingers with hers or rubbed her back or played with her hair while she tried to work on homework. He even made cooking dinner fairly difficult when he stood directly behind her at the stove with his hands on either side of her waist the _entire_ time she tried to prepare a chicken marsala.

Jamie had given him a weird look and then opened his mouth to apparently say something about Quil's constant hovering before he caught sight of Claire shaking her head at him and he shut it again. Claire was grateful that she had had the foresight to place Quil on her right side at the dinner table so that he could sit with his arm around the back of her chair all through the meal and they could both still eat. After dinner he had quickly dragged her out the front door to walk him out so that he could go for an unscheduled patrol run with Bennett to get a live action play by play of the day's events in his head. He caught Claire by surprised when the second she closed the front door behind her Quil had grabbed her face in both of his hands and then his lips were on hers as if they were already in the middle of a passionate moment.

The shock of it had finally shaken away any remaining tension between them and she seemed to respond without even thought. It just felt like second nature to return Quil's kiss and she twisted her fingers through his hair and pulled herself tightly to him as he kissed her like he was making it count. It was as if he had been desperately waiting for the first chance he could get to kiss her and then taken immediate advantage of it when it arrived. She could feel his strong need for her (emotional this time instead of physical) coursing through him with every single one of his touches.

She was having a hard time catching her breath when he finally pulled back a few moments later.

"Thanks." He sighed calmly with his forehead against hers and his hands in her hair, clearly relieved from the contact he had sustained from her.

"Anytime, baby." She panted with a smile, quoting him.

He chuckled in response before he said, "Alright, I need to run but I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay." She said breathlessly as she nodded against him.

"Okay." He agreed as he moved his hands down to her waist and then pulled her into him. He kissed her lips once more, taking his lingering time, before he released her and stepped back.

"I love you…." He said confidently with a smile that made Claire's heart feel like it would explode from squeezing and pounding so hard as he walked backwards down the walk.

"I love you…" she replied as she crossed her arms over her chest and brought a hand up to touch her necklace.

He smiled as he reached the end of the drive and shrugged out of his shirt. Claire bit her lip as she watched him run toward the green tree line a couple hundred yards away. She had to stand there taking deep lungful's of air for a couple minutes until she finally caught her breath.

Claire smiled at the memory while touching her necklace in the same way again standing at her locker. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and pulled it out to see a text from Quil,

 **Everything okay?**

It was like he could see her or something. Claire's smile grew while she wondered if he could feel anxiety from her even from a distance.

 **Not really…. Everyone's staring at me….**

She suddenly wished for the first time in her entire life that she and Quil were the same age, that way he could either go through high school with her or she would be done anyways and not have to stress about going through it without him. His response came through immediately.

 **Well that's nothing new. It's just because you're so beautiful. No one can help it.**

Claire felt her whole face light up and she bit her lip happily in response.

 **I just somehow don't think that's** -Claire had been in the middle of responding when she looked up as she heard the last voice on earth she wanted to hear say her name.

"Aw, Claire. Are you ready to finish our discussion from yesterday?"

Claire had to force her hands to quit shaking before she turned to face Dean Witmore on the other side of her locker door.

"No, not really. _Why_ are you talking to me?" She replied tonelessly.

She was completely shocked that he would even approach her. Her dad had pulled her into his office after Quil had left the night before. He wanted her own description of the events with the dean before he told her about his meeting with the principal and superintendent. The dean was officially being commissioned a fifty-foot restraining order pertaining to her by the school district and an investigation was being opened into his conduct with the students, just like Quil had told her.

"Well unfortunately, the timing of our conversations isn't up to you and since you were insubordinate yesterday during our discussion you now need to join me in my office to discuss the repercussions." He told her confidently while leaning almost imposingly over her.

She just looked at him in completely shocked disbelieve.

"Uh… I don't think so."

"Excuse me? I don't think it's up to yo-" he started to say and Claire could see him getting angry in that way that made her really nervous before she cut across him just as the bell was ringing.

"You haven't checked your messages yet, have you?"

"What?" he asked seeming derailed by her question.

"I filed a sexual harassment complaint against you with the school board. They already issued a restraining order. Any disciplinary action against me will be handled by the vice-principal directly so I suggest you take it up with her." Claire told him confidently as she grabbed her phone and textbook before shutting her locker.

He had taken a step back from leering over her as soon as she had said the words 'sexual harassment'. Claire turned around and walked away from him without giving him a chance to respond and immediately felt incredibly relieved knowing that she didn't have to answer to him anymore.

She got to class quickly and managed to take her seat next to Bennett before the late bell rang for once.

"Hey." they said to each other at the same time while it felt like everyone in class turned to watch their quiet exchange.

Claire smiled when he seemed to match her slightly less than enthusiastic tone.

"How's it going?" Claire asked him casually, not sure exactly how to greet him since the last time she had seen him she had clung to his body while whispering intimately in his ear and then he had since punch a guy out on her behalf.

"..Eh.." he responded noncommittally and she immediately wondered how much grief Macy had given to him. "You?"

"… 'Eh' about sums it up." Claire agreed while thinking about the dean.

It was quiet between them for a moment as class started and Claire took the opportunity to delete the reply to Quil she had started typing out and quickly replace it with,

 **The dean just tried to pull me into his office AGAIN… I don't think he knew about the complaint yet. I told him there was no way I was going with him and to check his messages….. .**

She blew out a stressed breathed and started bouncing her leg with nervous energy under the desk.

"Hey, listen Claire… about yesterday…" she heard Bennett whisper across the aisle at her.

She looked up at him in surprise. He sounded awkward and uncomfortable for once.

"What about yesterday?" she asked him confused.

"Quil was right….. I never should have put you in such a crappy spot like that….. it was stupid.. if I had phased you would have….. I just mean… I'm really sorry." He flustered at her in whispered spurts while continuing to look down and then back up at her again.

"Bennett." She said sincerely as she reached her hand across the aisle to squeeze his arm on the desk. "Quil's overly concerned with my protection. You have nothing to be sorry for! If anything, I'm sorry for putting you in that position in the first place!"

He smiled at her appreciatively for a moment and then Claire suddenly heard the growing buzz of whispered conversation that had started the second she had touched his arm. She immediately dropped it and pulled back as Bennett said,

"Naw, Claire. Caleb being a giant douche isn't on you…"

She smiled in return before saying, "Yeah, well…. Thanks for…. You know…. with Caleb…" she was the one flustering now and was grateful when he reached over to touch her arm, this time the whispering grew to a volume that the teacher almost couldn't talk over and his voice grew louder trying to regain the classes attention as Bennett said,

"Hey! Things with us might be _very_ different than they used to be, but I'd still never let anything happen to you, Claire."

Claire smiled gratefully at him as her eyes filled with tender tears at his gesture and words. She reached her casted right hand over to wrap her fingers around his on her arm and gave it a squeeze.

"Thanks, Bennett." She said sincerely while she sniffed away her tears. "So, we're good... Still friends, right?"

"Always!" he said confidently, and he flashed her the hint of a smile she had only ever seen the afternoon he had told her he loved her for the first time. The smile she seemed to bring out of him instead of his goofy one.

Claire could suddenly hear her father's voice in her head from weeks before,

' _You'll always have this love you feel for him, but it'll change and become something other than what you're feeling now. I think the best thing you can do for him now is give him a place in your life to put that love you feel for each other…just in a different way.'_

For the first time that morning she felt relief when she realized that she and Bennett were finally to that healthier place of being with who they were supposed to be with and yet still having a real legitimate love for each other.

She suddenly realized that it was silent in class. Too silent. Even the teacher had stopped talking and every single pair of eyes were on the two of them with Bennett's hand across the aisle on her arm and her hand on top of his as they leaned in to speak quietly to each other.

"You two done reconnecting?" the teacher asked sarcastically. "What is this, _Bennett and Claire; the Early Years_ season two?"

They both pulled back as Claire cleared her throat embarrassed and Bennett just said, "Sorry." He didn't even seem uncomfortable and as soon as the teacher went back to the board immediately made eye contact with Claire as he twisted his mouth to the side making the same face he always made when something was incredibly awkward just as Claire's phone vibrated in her lap. She chuckled softly as she looked down quickly to see a message from Quil.

 **Are you KIDDING ME!? Okay, I'm coming down there.**

Claire immediately peaked back up to make sure that the teacher wasn't paying attention to anything except his lecture again before she quickly responded.

 **Quil don't! You said you'd trust me to handle it. Besides how's it going to look when my "Twenty-four-year-old" boyfriend shows up at my high school!? The last thing I need is to be any more infamous.**

She bit her lip as she started bouncing her leg up and down again.

"Psst!" Bennett whispered across to her, trying to get her attention again.

She looked up from her phone she had been staring at waiting for a reply.

"Everything okay?" he whispered in concern.

She just nodded her head and gave him a reassuring smile as her leg continued to bounce.

"Quil?" he asked, obviously wondering who she was waiting for a text from.

She shrugged before she nodded her head.

"Is he mad?" he mouthed quietly after the teacher asked a question.

She shook her head at him before she whispered, "No, it's about the dean."

"The dean? Is that guy still bothering you?" Bennett said louder than he had clearly meant to. He immediately looked down and started flipping through his book as a few students around them turned to look at him. Claire chuckled at him as she felt her phone vibrate again.

 **No... I said that I would trust you to make the decision about pulling out of school. I said that I'D handle the dean, remember? And it would definitely look like you have a "twenty-four-year-old" boyfriend that doesn't take it lightly when ANYONE else tries to touch you or bothers you…. That doesn't seem like a bad message to send from where I'm standing.**

Claire blew out a breath after reading Quil's response. She wasn't sure the best way to reply but she didn't see him showing up at her high school and potentially kicking the crap out of the dean as a good solution. She looked over at Bennett when she felt him poke her side.

"Is he?" he asked her insistently.

It took Claire a second for her to remember his original question. She shrugged in response not really wanting to get into it.

"There's a reason the dean didn't show up at lunch after you punched Caleb…." She hedged to him.

"He pulled you into his office after you left lunch yesterday?" Bennett whispered concerned.

Claire just shrugged and nodded again. She had uncomfortable chills running down her spine just remembering the experience.

"For what!?" Bennett asked obviously annoyed.

"My outfit." She said with an eyeroll to show how ridiculous she found it.

"Your outfit? What were you wearing yesterday?" Bennett asked obviously not remembering.

"Shorts…" Claire answered like it as the stupidest thing she'd ever heard.

"Those little brown ones? Yeah, I remember now….. So, what happened after he pulled you into his office other than a bogus dress code report?" he asked her intensely.

Claire hemmed for just a moment before she remembered that she had nothing to be ashamed of. "He basically just came on to me….." she whispered in admittance.

"He WHAT!?" Bennett said so loudly that the entire class went silent again.

"Seriously?" the teacher asked obviously annoyed. "That's it. Hall time for both of you."

Mr. Gardner, their algebra two teacher had a class policy that if you were too disruptive in class than you had to spend the rest of the class period sitting in the hallway hoping that a hall monitor didn't walk past and write you up.

Claire and Bennett sighed as they gathered up their books and bags and made their way out of the classroom while fully knowing they couldn't argue that they had been anything less than disruptive.

Claire blushed, a little embarrassed as the class continued to whisper about them. Another sophomore girl that Claire didn't even know leaned over her backpack in the aisle so that she could fake cough "Slut!" as Claire walked past her. As soon as Claire heard her voice she recognized her from cheer try-outs at the beginning of the year. She had been bragging about all the cheer experience she had had and then been cut in the first round.

"What did you just say!?" Bennett immediately said to her in a way that wasn't really a question. He was walking right in front of Claire, but she hadn't been expecting him to respond to such a catty, immature remark and she almost walked into him when he stopped. " _What_ the _HELL_ do you think you know about it!?"

"Bennett!" Claire immediately tried to hush him while pushing slightly against his back to try to keep him moving out of the room.

"No, Claire! I'm so sick of hearing that _I'M_ the reason behind _everything_ you do! So, spread the news!" Bennett said loudly apparently speaking for the whole class to hear. "Because you know you all just _love_ so much to talk about it, anyways!" he turned back to the sophomore girl and said. "So, not that it's any of your damn business, but NO, I didn't dump, Claire! I never dropped her because she refused to have sex with me. I didn't hook up with Macy because she would! Claire isn't dating other guys to try to get my attention. She never offered to take a shower with me if I'd go to prom with her! Claire and I were in a relationship… we broke up... I'm now in a committed relationship with Macy, she is now in a committed relationship with someone else and we're JUST friends! Got it!?"

Claire hadn't even heard all the rumors that he was apparently debunking but she knew that an eager audience in algebra two had to be about the worst setting possible to try to address them, and she definitely wasn't happy with him addressing her relationship with Quil in such a public setting. She immediately slapped his arm with the back of her hand and spread her arms out in shocked indignation as she felt her eyes open hugely and her eyebrows raise at him.

"Ow… Oh! Is your relationship with Quil a secret!?" Bennett asked still loudly enough for everyone else to hear as if the idea had just occurred to him at the same time Mr. Gardner said, "Ladies and Gentlemen on this season of _Bennett and Claire_ the drama continues!"

Claire grabbed Bennett's upper arm and yanked him out of the classroom. They could hear the laughter from all the student's still ringing as the door snapped shut behind them.

"Bennett!" Claire whined in distress as she rubbed her palm across her forehead and dropped her backpack on the floor.

"What, Claire!? I couldn't let Hillary Sanchez call you a slut!" He immediately defended.

Claire just sighed out a breath as she leaned against the wall of lockers behind her and let herself slide to the floor. She was grateful she had decided to downplay her look today and wore a pair of jeans with a flannel button-up top instead of a sundress that would poof... and not camouflage as well with the student body.

"I know, Bennett… You're just naturally way too chivalrous to allow that." She laughed gently as he slid next to her on the floor and she playfully shoved at him. "It's one of the things I always loved about you….. but outing my relationship with Quil wasn't great…"

"Yeah…" he hedged clearly regretfully. "Sorry about that….. I really didn't realize that it was supposed to be a secret."

"It's not a secret. I just didn't want people at school to know." She explained with her head against a cold metal locker that had a slight smell of tuna salad coming from inside of it.

"Why not?" he asked clearly confused as to why she would try to hide it.

She just turned to look at him in disbelief for a minute before he asked, "What?"

"Not everyone is as chill as you are, Bennett. Clearly!" she laughed as she gestured toward the classroom behind them that they had just been kicked out of.

"What do you mean? Who cares if you're dating someone else!? So am I, and it's not like I had any sort of permanent claim on you…" He said clearly frustrated with the student body's reaction to their breakup.

"What!?" he laughed in complete confusion when Claire started laughing.

"He's thirty-one, Bennett! I'm only a sophomore! What am I supposed to say!? 'Oh, no! Nothing creepy going on here, he's just a wolf and I'm his imprint! It's cool that he was already sophomore when I was _born_ because we're SOULMATES! _'_?" Claire asked while still laughing about it.

"Oh." Bennett said simply like the idea had never even occurred to him that Quil was significantly older than Claire. "Is he really thirty-one? That's not an exaggeration to try to keep me in line and make me fear him more or something?"

Claire laughed harder than ever before she choked out, "No! He's really in his thirties!"

"Oh… Well in that case… yeah, sorry. I can see how you wouldn't want that to get out!" Bennett apologized in his usual goofy way.

Claire just chuckled again and said, "It's alright. After Caleb and….. the dean" (she forced herself to say.) "I think Quil actually wants to stake a serious claim and make sure _everyone_ knows I'm _with him_ …."

"Yeah! So, what happened with the dean yesterday!? Do I need to kick his ass too because I swear I will, Claire!" Bennett immediately asked.

"Yeah, because I'm sure Macy would really appreciate that." Claire pointed out while trying to get more information out of him about his relationship instead of going over what had happened in the dean's offices _again_. She was starting to feel concerned for him. Bennett deserved to be happy with whoever he was with and she certainly didn't want to be the conflict in his relationship.

"Ah… Macy." Bennett sighed out as he looked forward again and leaned his head back against the lockers like it was severely complicated and draining just thinking about her.

"How's that going?" Claire asked softly trying to make him feel more comfortable and hoping he'd open up to her, he always had before but then again, she'd always been his girlfriend before too.

He blew out a large breath between his lips sounding remarkably like one of Tami's horses before he said honestly. "I don't know, Claire….."

"What do you mean?" she asked concerned. Bennett was probably the most relaxed person she knew so it made zero sense to her that he would be this stressed about his relationship with _his imprint_.

"I just feel like….. like I can't make her happy…" he admitted like he was finally getting it off his chest.

"What?" Claire asked completely surprised. "That doesn't make any sense! She's been in love with you since you moved here! You were all she ever wanted!"

" _I KNOW_! So, it should be perfect, but it's like…. like…. like she was just in love with this _idea_ of me…. I'm not convince at all that the real thing can live up to this picture she's always had of me….." he said as he put his hand on his knee in front of him palm up and clawed down on the air as if he was trying to grasp something slipping through his fingers.

"Oh, Bennett!" she said sympathetically.

She wanted to say something, anything, to make him feel better but she felt that his evaluation of Macy was so accurate that she couldn't correct him, only try to empathize.

"I just wish she wasn't so….." he seemed to struggle for a word for a couple seconds before saying, "… Insecure, I guess….. I can't seem to make her _get_ how much she means to me… how much I need her… she just fixates so much on her need to compete with my relationship with-"

he suddenly cut off with a look sideways at Claire like he suddenly remembered who he was actually talking to.

"With me?" Claire finished knowingly.

Bennett just nodded his head before he closed his eyes and then intentionally smacked his head against the locker behind him.

"Would it help at all if I talked to her?" Claire asked while secretly praying that he would blatantly refuse so Claire would never ever ever have to broach the subject of her past relationship with Bennett to Macy.

Bennett opened his eyes and stared at Claire in apparently shocked disbelieve before saying, "You'd do that for me?"

"Of course, Bennett!" Claire said feigning annoyance and using her left hand to shove his face next to her. "I'd do anything for you, dummy. Even _IF_ things _are_ 'very different' between us now."

He chuckled in response before saying, "Thanks, Claire. That means a lot. Yeah, maybe Macy will respond to you…. Or least realize she doesn't need to be threatened by you…. I don't see how it would hurt."

"Alright. I don't make any promises, Bennett, so don't expect a miracle, but I'll try with her…" Claire hedged suddenly feeling a massive dread settle in her stomach at adding ' _heart to heart with Macy'_ on her to-do list.

"Thanks, Claire! You're the best!" Bennett said enthusiastically as he put his arm around her and pulled her close for a second.

"I know!" she hummed jokingly but thinking that she really was if she was going to try to approach Macy that day.

"So, enough about _my_ imprint… how are things with Quil?" he asked her sincerely as he checked to see if the locker next to him would open. When it did he looked inside and immediately pulled out a family size bag of Cheetos. "Score!"

"Great actually." Claire smiled as she instinctively touched the necklace around her neck again before making a face at Bennett for sticking a fist full of Cheetos in his mouth from an already opened mystery bag.

"That's good to hear." He said sincerely around his mouthful before he swallowed and continued, "He was pretty pissed about Caleb last night though."

"Yeah… he's not thrilled with all of this with the dean either… he actually wants me to pull out and finish high school online." She admitted.

"You're kidding. What did you tell him?" Bennett asked sounding worried.

"No, of course. I have way too much going on here. I don't want to spend the next two years staring at my computer instead of interacting with real people." Claire quickly told him feeling relieved to have a confidant that could understand the entire situation.

"Seriously." Bennett agreed, "I don't know how you could ever just say _no_ flat out like that to him though…. He's pretty intimidating."

Claire chuckled for a second before saying, "He's _your_ alpha, not mine! Trust me he doesn't intimidate me at all."

Bennett just shook his head like he couldn't imagine it, but Claire said, "You just haven't really seen us together. But I know Quil better than _ANYONE_ …he doesn't boss me around… if anything he usually follows my lead."

"Really?" Bennett asked doubtfully.

"Yeah." Claire admitted good-naturedly with a laugh.

"Then how'd he take your refusal to be homeschooled?" Bennett asked curiously.

"Well…. Obviously not great, but that's just because he would much rather have me free to spend every second of everyday with him than at a school where he thinks every guy within a fifty-mile radius is trying to get handsy with me!" Claire laughed.

"I could see that!" Bennett laughed in response before they suddenly heard a all too familiar voice saying, "So, what's going on here? Aren't you two supposed to be in class?"

They both turned in shock to see Quil himself walking down the hall towards them. Bennett just started laughing in response to his sudden appearance as Claire said in complete distress, "Quil! What are you doing here!?"

She immediately looked down at her phone to see the time and realized classes would be releasing in less than five minutes as Quil replied,

"What do you mean 'what am I doing here'? I told you I was coming to talk to the dean…"

Claire quickly accepted Bennett's hand up as he stood up just as Quil reached them.

"And I told you not to! You _CAN'T_ be here right now, Quil! No one can see you here with me!" Claire said in a panic.

Quil just rolled his eyes before saying like she was being ridiculous.

"Claire, I'm not going to actually _hurt_ him… just intimidate the shit out of him so that he thinks twice before he looks at you again. You look nice by the way." He finished in a happier tone of voice before quickly leaning forward to kiss her in a normal greeting, but she leaned back drastically before shoving him away from her.

"Quil, I'm at school!" she said desperately while Bennett said, "That's a good idea. I'll wing-man you."

"NO!" Claire said emphatically checking the time on her phone again to see that she had less than three minutes to get Quil out of the school before they were outed in a much more real way.

"No!" she repeated pointing a warning finger at Bennett who immediately threw his arms up in surrender at her intense tone. "You! Move now!" she said as she pointed to Quil while grabbing his arm around her cast. "You, get to class and start thinking about damage control for your little monologue in there. Got it!?" she snapped at Bennett.

"Claire, what the ….?" Quil said in confusion as he let her start to drag him down the hall he had just come from.

She could hear Bennett's laughter from a few feet behind them before he said,

"I see what you mean about following your lead now!"

She didn't acknowledge him as she dropped her poor hold around Quil's large arm and grabbed onto the bottom of his shirt instead. She didn't dare come anywhere close to touching his hand with so many potential eyes free to witness something only feet behind every door they past.

"Move!" she barked at him urgently while dragging him down the hall as fast as she could, she could feel her heart pounding harder in her chest with every second that brought them closer to the bell ringing, and classes releasing.

"Claire." He said insistently when he refused to keep walking and then placed both of his hands on her waist as she was snapped back to him after his sudden stop less than a couple hundred feet from where they had started. "I'm not going anywhere. Why are you freaking out?"

She looked down to check the time again to see she had less than two minutes and counting.

"Quil. I'm not joking!" she huffed in agitation before taking a quick breath and feeling a familiar imprint pull telling her that blowing up on him was not the way to handle it to get him to leave. That would leave her with her only option being to leave him before she was seen with him and then he would still be free to confront the dean by himself.

Her heart was pounding but she sucked in a quick breath before she put both of her hands on the sides of his face and then stood on the tips of her toes to place her forehead against his.

"Claire?" he asked softly, clearly pleasantly surprised by her abrupt but intimate contact.

"Please?" she whispered as softly as she could with her eyes closed. She didn't even dare look at him while she asked. Half of her was still prepared to bolt from him at any second if the bell rang and students started piling out. "Please, Quil? I'm asking you -No, I'm begging you! Please, please leave. Just please go! Please, Quil."

She could feel his shock for a second before his hands tightened on her waist. He only hesitated for a second before he replied.

"Okay. If that's what you want."

"Yes! Please, Quil. I promise I'll tell you everything about whatever you want after school just _please_ go before anyone sees us together, okay?" she begged with her eyelids still squeezed together tightly.

"Okay, Claire, I'll go right now." He promised sounding concerned.

Claire blew out a huge sigh of relief as she brought her left hand down from his face to look at the phone still in her palm. Less than a minute.

"Thank you! I'll talk to you later, babe. I promise!" she practically spit out she said it so quickly while taking a step back from him, so she could run to her bag she had left on the floor outside of Algebra two and get as much distance from him as she could before the bell rang.

She was centimeters from slipping out of his fingers and was already turned away, ready to rush off when she suddenly thought about him for the first time. She froze for a microsecond and then turned back into him. She grabbed his face in her hands and reached all the way up on her toes to press her lips against his.

She meant to kiss him hard and fast and then bolt, but the second her lips hit his she completely melted into him.

She was grateful that he had wrapped his strong arms around her because he was suddenly supporting most of her weight while the entire world froze around her for one perfect moment.

She just kissed him there in the middle of the hall, lost in a completely unexpected bliss… and then the bell rang.

It immediately snapped Claire back to reality and she shoved away from Quil as hard as she could. She didn't even look back before she started sprinting down the hall. She was at least fifty feet from where she had left him by the time kids started spilling out of doors.

She slowed to a purposeful walk before she caused a scene with her all-out sprint. She reached Bennett still standing outside of Algebra two waiting for her with her bag in his hand holding it out to her. He had obviously had a clear view of her entire interaction with Quil fifty yards away.

"Yeah, I can see what you mean now… he's completely twisted around your finger, isn't he?" Bennett laughed while Claire could hear the constant chatter of the students around them (all revolving around the two of them) as Bennett handed her her backpack.

She took it as she turned to look back for the first time. She noted with a small amount of relief that she could only hear the partial whispers of her and Bennett's names without anything about seeing her with anyone else as she caught sight of Quil still standing where she had left him with a slightly dazed and confused look on his face as high school students filed out all around him.

Claire pulled out her phone.

 **Oh, and I love you.**

She was watching Quil again before she even hit send. She saw him pull his phone out of his back pocket to check it before he immediately looked up and made eye contact with her from a hundred and fifty feet away. His answering smile lit up his whole face even from the distance. Claire smiled happily to herself as she looked down while hitching her bag higher up her shoulder. She grabbed at her necklace again as she made her way to class while trying unsuccessfully to blend into a crowd all talking about one thing. Her.

* * *

 ***Author's Note***

 **Alrighty! I hope you enjoyed this slightly shorter chapter! I'm excited though because we're at a point where we're picking up momentum and you should be getting more soon! So, in the mean time I hope you enjoyed this bit and I hope to hear reactions! Is it just me or are Claire and Quil just like the cutest couple ever? I may be a bit biased though... hahaha well I hope to have more ready soon!**

 **xoxo**


	13. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

Claire made it to second period with plenty of time to spare thanks to every single person in the hallways simple desire to give her as much space as humanly possible. The problem was that once she got to Home Economics not only was her heart pounding from her interaction and close call with Quil, but she also had to try to work up the nerve to fulfill her promise to Bennett. Macy was in this class and she knew that putting off any conversation would only make it harder. No, definitely the sooner the better.

Claire took in a huge breath as Macy sat at a seat diagonal from her at their group table they had worked together at all year. She immediately forced herself to swallow down what felt like bile in the form of resentment toward Macy and said as casually as she could possibly manage (though she knew it still sounded slightly forced),

"Hey, Macy. How's your morning going?"

The other two students in their group hadn't arrived yet and Claire knew that the less eager ears to overhear the better and was hopeful to do this as quickly as possible so that she could rest easy knowing she was still a good friend to Bennett while having as little to do with Macy as she possibly could.

Macy looked up from her phone that she had been scowling at. She looked at Claire in shocked indignation before narrowing her eyes suspiciously at Claire as she answered with a curt, "Fine."

"…Cool….." Claire replied lamely, thinking that this was going to be an even more difficult task than she had originally thought, especially if Macy refused to engage.

She was immediately grateful that she had warned Bennett that she couldn't promise results but then suddenly felt sour when she remembered she _HAD_ promised effort. She took in another reassuring breath, grabbed onto the circular _C_ of her necklace for strength and said,

"So, how are…. things?"

 _Things? Gosh, I sound so desperate and suspicious! Could you BE any worse at this, Claire!?_ She immediately thought critically to herself. Indeed, Macy did look more suspicious than ever as she replied extremely defensively,

"What things!?"

 _Great….. going just as smoothly as I'd hoped…._ Claire immediately tried to think through the most effective tactics for connecting with Macy. She decided she didn't have time for any subtleties and would have to settle for straight honesty.

"Uh….. just things with… Bennett…." Claire hedged hesitantly.

Macy immediately gave Claire an incredibly nasty look just as Katie and Rodger (the other two members of their group) sat down. _Uh-oh,_ Claire thought as she sensed a major freak-out coming right before Macy exploded with,

"Why can't you just BACK-OFF _already_!? NEWS-FLASH; he doesn't love you anymore, Claire! He loves _ME_! _I'M_ his imprint! Why can't you just let him go!? NO _,_ you just have to have everything! Don't you!? You were _already_ an imprint, but it just wasn't enough to have all of Quil… you HAD to have Bennett too… you just have to EVERYTHING all the time!"

Macy had shrieked it at her loudly enough for half of the class to hear and they definitely had a willing audience ready to observe anymore Claire-drama to potentially gossip about later.

"Imprint? What's an imprint?" Katie asked in confusion as Claire said 'Whoa…." in complete shock at the intensity of Macy's insecurity.

Slight alarm started to course through Claire because of Katie's comment and she knew she needed to contain the situation before questions about the wolves started cropping up.

"Um, Macy maybe we can finish our conversation in the hall…." Claire said casually while giving her a significant look.

"NO! No way in hell I'm going anywhere with a slut like you!" Macy snapped just as loudly as ever.

Claire's patience was seriously waning thin, but she forced herself to stay calm as she threw her bag over her shoulder and walked around the table to grab Macy's arm securely in her left hand.

"Come on, Macy, let's get a drink at the fountain." Claire said slightly darkly as she started draggy Macy, stool and all, toward the door while not giving her the option to refuse.

"Get off of me, Whore!" Macy snapped as she stood up and allowed Claire to drag her out of the room.

Macy seemed to stop moving her feet when they were out the door like she expected Claire to stop and drop her arm, but Claire didn't. She just marched her the twenty feet down the hall and around the corner to the doors of the locker rooms just as the bell rang clearing the last of the stragglers in the hall. With some small semblance of privacy Claire finally released her vice-grip on Macy's arm as she rounded to face her, ready to finally have it out.

"Enough, Macy! Enough with the name calling! What, you're afraid that Bennett is still in love with me!? That he loves me more than you, as if that's somehow possible!? Even if that is somehow the case, -which we both it's not- what points do you think you're winning with him by attacking me!? Especially publicly! Whatever crap goes down with the wolves needs to stay within that circle, and if you can't handle that than he is better off without you even if he _does_ need you!"

Macy looked like she was about to spew venom, or more likely try to rip out Claire's newly blonded hair.

"You're such a bitch, Claire! Don't try to turn this around on me just because you're trying to get your claws as deeply into _MY_ boyfriend as you can!" she spit at Claire as if she alone had Claire completely figured out.

"Are you kidding me!? Are you seriously that neurotic!? Is this just major trust issues or are you that severely insecure!?" Claire snapped, no longer able to hold back her true thoughts and feelings about her when Macy was zapping her patience with her continued abuse.

Claire was afraid for just a second that Macy was about to jump her but then she quickly figured that she could take Macy down and decided to make it clear that Macy didn't scare her. So, she put her hands on her hips and stared her down, standing her ground and refusing to back off. Macy immediately folded, revealing just how physically intimidated she was by Claire along with everything else about her.

"Look, not that it's any of your business but Quil never had any interest in me until _after_ Bennett and I broke up." (Claire immediately thought about how Quil tried to kiss her the day she told him she agreed to be Bennett's girlfriend but figured that Macy didn't need to know all of the detailsand that the statement was mostly the truth) "So it's not like I had both guys attention at the same time….. I didn't even _speak_ to Quil the entire time Bennett and I were together so don't act like I'm easy or that I don't value loyalty! And yeah, Bennett and I use to be in love and all that, but all that means is that I _know_ him. I know Bennett _really_ well and it's already clear to me how much you mean to him because I know how much _I_ mean to him and he was willing to put me through _this_ "(she gestured back and forth between the two of them) "…just to try to make you more comfortable with the whole situation, because he doesn't seem to know what else to do about it!"

Annoyed and aggravated Claire finally stopped to try to catch her breath. She took a small step back and toward the side since she suddenly had a strong desire to grab Macy by the hair and shake her.

"Bennett asked you to talk to me?" Macy asked with complete disbelieve.

"Well it was my idea... but yeah, he's the one who wanted me to." Claire replied agitated.

"Bennett talks to you about us?" Macy replied, and Claire couldn't tell from her tone if she even believed her or was just completely pissed or touched that Bennett cared so much.

It was getting harder and harder for Claire to believe that she had ever even felt close to Macy anymore. Not only was she a total brat to Claire these days but Claire felt like she couldn't read her or understand her at all.

"Only about as much as I talk to him about Quil and I….. we're friends…. We'll always care about each other and ask each other for advice…. That's why I couldn't let him phase at lunch yesterday." Claire answered.

She couldn't understand why if Macy was legitimately Bennett's soulmate she seemed to understand him so much better than Macy did. Sure, Claire and Quil had had their bumps in the road when it came to getting together but Claire felt like she knew Quil like the back of her hand…. That nothing in the world made as much sense as he did to her… that they were always on almost the exact same wavelength, same frequency of communication. No one else understood her like that. Even her relationship with Bennett (which had been so smooth and friction free) had never felt so seamless. Even their fights and disagreements seemed to just reinforce in her how much they belonged together… how much they both cared… how much that person mattered to the other.

Claire suddenly wondered what was wrong with Macy, because she couldn't see how Bennett could possibly be the problem.

"Ugh!" Macy scoffed snottily, "Don't even get me started on lunch yesterday… so pathetic." she muttered the last part under her breath clearly loud enough for Claire to hear a few feet away."

"Hey!" Claire immediately snapped. " _Nothing_ about Bennett is pathetic! If you can't see that than there is _no way_ you deserve him!"

There were very few people in her life that Claire trusted or respected more than Bennett and the same way that he couldn't stand by and let Hillary Sanchez call Claire a slut, there was no way she could let _anyone_ refer to him in such a degrading way.

Macy just stared at Claire like she was stupid before saying like it was obvious,

"No, Claire… I meant _you_ were pathetic."

"Eh!" Claire just scoffed a laugh.

It was rare moment of complete clarity for her where instead of feeling in anyway inferior because of Macy's nasty mean-girl comments, she just felt superior as she lost continual respect for Macy because of her attempts to build herself by tearing others down and hurting Bennett in the process.

"You're ridiculous. I may never be with Bennett again -and that's fine, I've found my safe-place in Quil, but he deserves a _whole_ lot better than you. I would _never_ have wished you on him."

Claire didn't even see it coming before she felt the hot smack of Macy's palm across her cheek. It burned for just a completely silent split second before Claire immediately snapped her head back to look at Macy in disbelief.

"Oh, I _KNOW_ you didn't just do that!" Claire snapped not even feeling the pain behind her intensely hot fury.

She wanted to lunge at Macy but immediately realized that words would leave the biggest sting.

"And you think _I'M_ pathetic!? How do you think Bennett is _ever_ going to respect you? It's not my fault he never wanted you when he actually had the choice but now we all know exactly why he never did. You're pathetic."

She had turned around to walk back to class when she turned back to say.

"You get one free shot in, Macy. Consider that it. Next time, I hit back and trust me… I don't need any help to _take you down_."

Claire felt an immediate sense of satisfaction as she walked away from the look of hurt and even slight fear that had been slapped on Macy's face, but it was almost immediately followed by a deep sense of guilt. Not only had she completely failed in her whole purpose for speaking with Macy in the first place, but she had let herself be baited by Macy and then had immediately targeted her deep-seeded insecurities. It had felt satisfying to finally slap back after taking so many hits from her since coming home, but she knew that she had in a single attempt cut deeper into Macy than Macy had _ever_ managed to when it came to her own feelings. Not that Macy didn't deserve it, but Claire now knew she was a hypocrite since she had just felt so superior and critical of Macy for hurting Bennett in her attempt to spar with her and Claire had just inadvertently done the same thing. Bennett had asked her for her help and she had just made things incalculably worse.

She put her hand to her head in frustration as she reached the classroom door. She would have to apologize to Bennett now and she knew that if she really wanted to make things right she would eventually have to apologize to Macy too.

She honestly wished that she had the power to cut through the imprint bond. Claire would take any amount of public humiliation and abuse at school if she had the ability to free Bennett from Macy. She suddenly thought about the Claire she had met at the airport a few days earlier and thought again even more persistently how much she would prefer someone like her for Bennett.

Claire shook her head and put her handle on the door to Home Ec. when she looked up instinctively at the sound of someone saying her name. It was a senior boy that she only recognized from being on the football team with Bennett that past season. He smiled conspiratorially at her before he walked up to her casually.

"Hey, how's it going?"

"Fine….." Claire answered confused by his approach and why he wasn't in class to begin with.

"Rough morning, huh?" he asked more like a joke than sympathetically.

"I guess you could say that…." Claire answered honestly while still wondering why he was talking to her at all. Not only was she currently a social pariah but she had never had a single conversation or exchange with him and she didn't even know his name.

He laughed at her response before he said, "I bet!" and Claire suddenly pinged into something as she wondered, _Is he FLIRTING with me!?_

"Yeah." Claire finished a little lamely.

She was starting to wonder what she could say to politely excuse herself from the exchange and get back to the class that she had already missed the beginning of.

"Well..." He said casually before extending his hand palm out toward her, "Shall we?"

"Excuse me?" Claire asked in completely confused disbelieve.

"Right! I'm supposed to escort you to the front office…. Guess I should have mentioned that first!" he answered with a laugh like they were old friends. As much as Claire wanted to be annoyed, especially since she was still fired up after her exchange with Macy, it actually reminded her of how cutely, nervously awkward Bennett had been when he had first asked her out.

Quil had always been way too confident in himself and in their relationship to seem nervous while pursuing her, but she always had a soft spot for someone putting themselves on the spot to take a chance on her and she immediately felt kindly ambivalent towards the boy whose name she still didn't know.

"Oh, right! No problem, I already have my bag so I'm ready to go." She responded as she started to follow beside him toward the office.

They walked casually next to each other down the empty hall for a moment before he surprised her by saying, "Here!" while he grabbed her bag from her over her right shoulder.

She would have opposed the idea if he hadn't already taken the backpack from her.

"I can carry my own bag…." She said gently trying to reassert control of a situation that felt a little too flirty for her to feel comfortable with when she was fully committed to her relationship with Quil.

"That's alright, you have a broken arm." He reminder her.

She moved her right arm around and flexed her fingers as if to illustrate how much free motion and ability she still had.

"Barely... I get my cast off in two days." She replied wondering if there was any chance she would get her bag back from him or if it would become way too awkward to make it worth insisting on it.

"That's got to feel good. Then Bennett won't have to feel so guilty about that accident that broke it anymore." He replied casually making conversation with her.

"Bennett shouldn't feel guilty at all. The accident was never his fault." Claire immediately answered while her own immense feeling of guilt swept over her in regard to Bennett and how she had just made his situation worse after promising to help. The boy must have picked up on her tone because he looked at her from the side for a moment like he was evaluating her before he asked uncertainly,

"Uh, you okay there?"

"Yeah…." She answered uncertainly before suddenly saying, "Have you ever done something you regretted?"

"Uh….. yeah." He said like it was obvious.

"What did you do about it?" she sincerely asked while wondering why she was asking advice from a random flirty boy she didn't even know.

"I tried to make it right I guess…." He answered a little doubtfully.

Claire nodded her head at the expected answer before pushing the subject farther by asking, "And what if you didn't actually _want_ to make it right?"

He seemed to evaluate her for another moment before he said in a fairly certain and knowing tone, "You regret breaking up with your boyfriend."

"What?" Claire laughed, not having expected him to jump to that conclusion, "No, not at all!"

He looked at her in complete disbelieve and Claire knew he was doubting her every word.

"No, really! That wasn't what I was talking about….. and _I_ didn't break up with him… we had some unresolvable issues" ( _that's the understatement of the year,_ Claire thought to herself as she thought back to the week that Bennett joined the pack and how it had effected both of them) "and we _had_ to breakup…. it was mutual." She told him certainly.

"Alright then." he said sounding only slightly more convinced. "Then….. what is it you regret?"

Claire immediately felt that that was an overly personal question but knew she had set herself up for it when she had asked him for so much advice. She sighed in discouraged defeat before saying, "I offended my ex-boyfriend's girlfriend and have unintentionally hurt him in the process."

To her surprise the kid started to laugh.

"What?" she asked skeptically in response.

"Oh, we _ALL_ know you offended your ex-boyfriend's girlfriend…. That's not a secret around here."

Claire laughed when she realized the truth of that statement and nodded in agreement. It didn't matter that she had gotten into it so personally with Macy only moments ago, no one in the school would be surprised to find out that Macy was pissed at her and that they had fought over Bennett.

"I'm sorry, but what's your name again?" Claire asked politely.

"Charlie." He answered lightly while sticking his hand out to her that was carrying her bag. She stuck her awkward casted right hand in his and squeezed it briefly as she gave it a small shake.

"Claire," she introduced herself, "but of course-"

"I already knew that." He cut across to finish for her. "Everyone knows that."

Claire smiled briefly before sighing sadly and saying, "Ah, the price of fame…" as they made it to the exterior door of the office.

He chuckled in response as he handed her her bag back and held the door open for her. She nodded her thanks as she took it and walked into the office ahead of him.

As soon as she walked in the Principal said her name and walked forward to greet her and immediately steered her into a conference room with a half dozen people already in it before she could even say a dismissing thank you and goodbye to Charlie.

Claire looked around the room that suddenly felt crowded while it held the principal, the vice-principal, the superintendent, the same woman from the school district that had been there when Claire had been questioned in seventh grade in regard to her relationship with Quil (to Claire's discomfort), her school counselor, and even two detectives from the reservations police department. Claire felt a little unprepared but not completely surprise by the meeting she had been dragged into as the vice-principal sat her down and asked her to start from the beginning and explain any and all interactions with the dean that she had filed a sexual harassment complaint against.

Claire forced herself to tell her story in accurate and minute detail while doing her best not to either leave anything out or exaggerate any of the dean's behavior. She simply had to remind herself continuously that she had done nothing to be ashamed of and focused on relaying her feelings of discomfort and the way she had expressed them to the dean who had ignored them that had ultimately lead to her report. She worried that all of the adults in the room were skeptical of her story especially when they started asking her specific and detailed questions (mostly the woman from the school district and the two detectives) after she had finished relaying the history of events. She was completely surprised but felt an immediate sense of relief when the woman whose name or title she didn't know said at the end of what had turned into a two-hour meeting, "Well it seems like you were more than justified in filing your complaint, especially after Dean Whitmore approached you again this morning…." The vice-principal nodded her head in agreement.

"So… you believe me then?" Claire asked in surprise. She wasn't sure why the situation made her feel so defensive, but she had already come to terms with the fact that telling the truth as honestly as possible was the right thing to do and that as long as she could get the dean to stay as far away from her as she could that would be the only justice she could expect to get.

"Of course, Claire!" said the principal while laying a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "But we can't just bring up charges and turn someone's life completely upside down without getting as many firsthand details about the situation as possible."

"Your bringing up charges on the dean?" Claire asked in surprise.

"Well…" one of the detectives answered, "We're opening an official investigation against him… we'll have to see what it comes to, but you have certainly given us enough grounds to open a case. Thank you for your cooperation Miss Young, we'll let you know if we have any more questions." He finished dismissively.

Claire turned to look at the principal who said, "You can return to class now, Claire. And don't worry, Dean Witmore will no longer be able to approach you in any form."

"Thank you!" Claire said in pure relief to the room at large before she stood to go.

She turned toward the door before she paused and looked back at her principal. She was a tall woman, Claire would guess 5'10 since she was a few inches taller than her and she looked to be close to fifty but aging gracefully with a chic blonde chin-length bob. She had always given the appearance of intimidation and power to her before but suddenly Claire couldn't seem to help herself as she moved the few feet towards her and embraced her in a deeply appreciative hug.

"Oh!" she said in complete surprise.

"Thank you for believing me!" Claire said sincerely to her.

"Um, Claire, I appreciate the gesture but strictly speaking I'm not actually allowed to hug students…." The principal replied while the rest of the room seemed to chuckle a little.

"Right! Sorry!" Claire responded immediately backing away.

She gave the room a small wave before walking out towards the reception area. She knew she should feel some slight embarrassment at her faux-pas but all she felt was relief at realizing that her fear of being sexually harassed for the next few years unless she pulled out to be homeschooled were now no longer needed.

She felt better than she had since Sunday night as she walked down the halls to try to squeeze in a meal before her lunch period ended. The cafeteria food line was already closed by the time she got there so she bought a ham and cheese sandwich and a bag of chips from a vending machine before going to sit at the same table Caleb had approached her at the day before since Macy looked even more angry (if that was possible) than she had when Claire had left her outside the gym locker rooms.

Claire made eye contact with Bennett on her way to sit at her solitary table and the look he gave her was simple enough to an untrained eye, but Claire knew him well enough to read the _What the hell happened?_ written across his face. She returned his look with a slight tilt of her head and a drag of her mouth to code her own _I tried…._ to him.

She quickly sat down with her back to their table and started eating, feeling as aware as usual that most everyone was watching her and not wanting to take a chance that someone would pick up on their exchange. She quickly pulled out her phone and sent Bennett a,

 **We should talk later….**

Claire felt like she almost had a sixth sense that told her Bennett had already gotten her text but that he couldn't reply with Macy watching him so angrily and closely. It was a full five minutes and her sandwich was almost gone before he replied,

 **Ya think?**

Claire laughed out loud at his sarcasm that she could hear even over a text before she replied.

 **Yeah sorry…. I know it doesn't help AT ALL, but I legitimately tried.**

She hit send and then was overwhelmed with a sense of nauseating deja-vu when the chair next to her pulled out and a male voice said,

"Can I sit here?"

"Charlie?" Claire asked in confused surprise as the boy who had walked her to the office a couple hours before sat down.

"That's my name, don't wear it out!" he replied jokingly as he unnecessarily reached over to open Claire's bag of chips for her.

"Uh, thanks…. What are you doing? I don't think _anyone's_ reputation can handle being seen being voluntarily around me right now." Claire said.

Charlie chuckled before saying,

"I think I can handle it."

Claire just took a bite of her chips feeling completely out of her depth in knowing how to handle this unexpected situation. She was however immediately glad that she had convinced Quil to leave so that he wasn't here to witness it. She knew that he would react in one of two ways, either he would immediately be territorial (like the wolf he was) and stake his claim on her very clearly and unmistakably or else he would find the entire thing hilarious and tease her incessantly for the rest of forever about it…. Probably the later, again Claire knew he was very confident in himself and their relationship together. After the ridiculous high and low points in the emotional roller-coaster she had already been on that day, she didn't have the energy to handle either reaction… but then again Quil would immediately see that in her and know how to handle it to make her feel better without adding to her worries.

She grabbed onto her necklace as she felt a familiar sensation of missing him while she looked at Charlie suddenly and asked, "Why?"

"….. Because I want to get to know you better…." He hemmed without really looking at her.

Usually that sort of response would elicit a lot of pity from Claire but something about the way he had said it hesitantly while dodging her eye contact had her doubting his motivation.

"Why?" she asked again this time lacing the word with her suspicion.

He looked at her in surprise for a second and seemed to hesitate with his mouth open. Claire watch while it seemed like he was about to start to say a half a dozen different things before he would stop himself each time. It was thirty seconds later before he finally said something.

"I want to be the one to go to prom with you."

"What?" Claire asked in complete confusion. That had been about the last possible thing she had expected him to say.

"I want to go to prom with you." He repeated slightly more certainly.

Claire tried to side step the entire minefield by saying, "But…. It's only February…. Prom isn't for four more months, no one has dates yet."

"I know… that's why I want to nail you down now…" he replied like it was obvious.

"Uh…." Claire stuttered completely dumfounded for what felt like the dozenth time that day.

She had some seriously good reasons for not wanting her relationship with Quil to become public knowledge, not the least of it was that she simply didn't think she could handle _any_ more infamy at school (she hadn't lied to Quil about that.) but there was no way she was going to go to prom with Charlie (or anyone else) just to hide it.

"Look, I really appreciate the offer and I'm flatter that you'd want to take me but I'm not going to prom with anyone." She answered as kindly and gracefully as she knew how while feeling like she didn't have any idea how to tactfully refuse him.

"Come on! You can use the four months to get to know me…. Here, what if I take you out on Friday and then you can use that as a chance to see me in action before you officially decide…" he said seeming undeterred by her rejection.

Claire was starting to sweat as she tried to think of a diplomatic response that didn't involve dragging her over thirty-year-old boyfriend into the mix. Saying a blatant 'no' was just too unkind for her to stomach…. especially to this nice and fairly cute boy who probably had a number of girls dying to go to prom (and out on Friday night) with him.

"…. I _just_ got out of a relationship and _obviously_ had a bad breakup and I'm just not looking to date anyone from school…." Claire hedged barely feeling any guilt for using Bennett as the crutch to her let down. "So, thank you, Charlie, but really the answer is going to have to be no."

The bell rang then, and Charlie stood up seeming completely comfortable and not the least bit upset as he said, "Alright, I can accept that…."

She was about to blow out a sigh of relief when he continued, "… but don't think I'm giving up. I still have four months to change your mind and I have a definite way of wearing people down."

Claire was shocked by his answer as he winked at her. She barely had to time to recover enough to grab his arm before he could walk away.

"Charlie, really that's sweet but my answer isn't going to change. You should go out with a girl who's available."

He laughed and seemed pleased by her touch on his arm as he grabbed her fingers and played with them softly while saying alluringly, "Ah, Claire, you under estimate my powers…" he let her fingers slip through his own as he walked away backwards with an air of confidence about him.

Claire had to admit he was definitely charming. She wondered if this was going to be a long-term problem and if she would be forced to her admit to her relationship but decided to just cross that bridge when she got to it. She had enough on her plate to deal with currently and the fact was she and Quil had never even had a legitimate conversation about where they wanted to stand publicly when it came to their relationship. She wasn't going decide anything until she spoke with him first.

She threw her sandwich wrapper and uneaten chip bag in the garbage and made her way to fifth period where her relief lay in the fact that neither Bennett or Macy were in that class but knowing she'd have to face the two together in sixth period history.

Everything was fine and normal for the first twenty minutes until Claire felt a balled-up piece of paper hit the back of her head. She looked behind her to see Tyler Mooring pointing down at the floor where the paper he had just thrown at her had landed. She retrieved it and opened it to find the note he had written on it.0

It simply said, _Go to prom with ME_.

Claire stared at it in complete confusion for a full thirty seconds. Was he joking? They were both sophomores so neither of them could even get tickets plus prom was so far away she couldn't understand why two boys would ask her to be their dates on the same day… especially considering she was the least liked person at school.

She turned around and looked at Tyler to see him raising his eyebrows and nodding his head enticingly at her. She quickly shook her head no at him but when he seemed undeterred and just started becoming more emphatic in his silent enticements she lost her patience that was already stretched too thin.

"No!" she said loudly enough for him to hear across the room. He hadn't even phrased it as a question. He had simply demanded it of her.

"Is there a problem?" the teacher had stopped the class to ask her.

Claire quickly turned back around, "No ma'am." She answered, immediately focusing on her notes again.

The rest of the period passed without further incident and Claire was walking in the hall, debating if there was a way to apologize and discuss things with Bennett without having to actually apologize to Macy, so she was surprised when she heard someone calling her name urgently. She looked up to see Rachel rushing towards her.

"Rachel?" she questioned since she knew Rachel's last class of the day was on the other side of the building.

"I need to talk to you!" she said casually but Claire could feel the tension behind it as her sister pulled her into the nearby women's restroom.

"What's going on?" Claire asked her quietly as Rachel locked them in the handicapped stall at the end of the row.

"I just got a text from Trav…. Have you been asked to prom at all?" Rachel whispered quietly enough that Claire had to lean in to hear her.

"Yeah… how'd you know that!?" Claire whispered back.

"Oh no, it's real then…. I was hoping it was all just a big joke…"

"What are you talking about, Rachel? What's a joke?" Claire asked while a sinking feeling was causing her stomach to churn.

Rachel hesitated for a moment before she took a breath and said in a whisper like she was getting it over with, "It's the football team…. Apparently because of your new found…popularity… they have started a bet… anyone on the team can put twenty bucks into the pot to have a chance to ask you to prom. The one you agree to go with wins the entire thing."

"What!?" Claire asked in disgust forgetting to whisper. "You're kidding me!"

"Shh!" Rachel responding quickly, clearly not wanting to be overheard by the other girls in the bathroom rushing to wash their hands or fix their makeup and get to class before the tardy bell. "That's not all…"

"What? What else is there?" Claire whispered back bracingly.

"They all somehow know that the farthest Bennett ever got with you was second base after the Midvale game…."

"What!?" Claire asked in shocked horror while remembering to keep her voice to a whisper this time.

Rachel nodded and continued, "If anyone can get you to prom and then…. 'slide into home'" (Rachel made an uncomfortable face and used air quotes around the derogatory phrase.) "…then the pot doubles….."

Claire's eyes were already spilling with tears as she clarified, "The _entire_ football team has a bet about who can take me to prom and then take my virginity?"

"Claire, I'm so sorry!" Rachel said with tears in her own eyes as she wrapped her sister in a hug just as the bell rang.

Claire was trying so hard not to fall apart that she barely managed to even acknowledge her sister's embrace.

"You better get to class… you're already late." Claire mumbled to Rachel without making eye contact.

"Are you sure? I can stay here with you! We can figure out a plan for how to handle this." Rachel assured her.

"No, that's okay….. we'll figure it out later. I'm going to go to class too." She answered while trying her best to look like she didn't feel like life was crashing down around her.

"Okay, but whatever you need, I'm here for you, Claire!" Rachel said with a squeeze to her shoulder.

"Thanks, Rachel. I really appreciate it." She answered nodding her head.

"Of course!" Rachel said,

"I'll talk to you later!" Claire said confidently as Rachel hurried out since she had to make it across campus to get to class.

As soon as she was gone Claire took some deep calming breaths since she knew she had already missed way too much school to be able to afford to miss the next period. She wiped at her teary eyes and checked her make up in the mirror.

She was pleased that the slap Macy had given her hadn't left a mark. She knew immediately that her smack wasn't as hard as Claire's since she _had_ left a mark across Bennett's face when she had slapped him in his car after he had unintentionally unhooked her bra.

She pulled herself together as best she could while slowly walking to class. She had never felt so humiliated in her entire life. Her entire experience at school had felt like a giant nightmare since she had come back from Tennessee, but this by far took the all-time worst moment prize. A bet to see who could get her to agree to be their date to prom would be bad enough but knowing that there was a bet with money on it to see who could get her virginity was more demoralizing than Claire could ever have imagined feeling as she replayed all of Rachel's words in her mind.

Suddenly something Rachel had said clicked in Claire's mind, replacing all of the humiliation with anger. Not just anger but sheer flaming rage. She didn't think she had ever felt so angry in her entire life as she marched as quickly as she could to sixth period history.

She didn't even pause when she opened the door and walked in. Class had already started but the class seemed to be in a momentary chaos while pairing into groups for single period project and no one noticed the distraction of her walking in late. It was the first piece of good luck she felt like she had had in years as she marched right up to the table where Bennett and Macy were partnered with Katie and seemed to be in need of a forth.

"Hey!" Bennett greeted her happily. "Wanna be in our group!?" Macy looked like she might have a stroke but before she could say anything Claire said in a dangerously quiet voice she knew she had never used with him before, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

He looked shocked and Macy immediately put a claiming hand on his arm holding him in place as she started, "Um, I don't think so-" but she was cut off with the look that Claire gave her.

Claire had always been good at communicate her thoughts with her face if she wanted to, it always felt natural to her. Of course, through the years she had learned to mask her thoughts but in the moment, she was doing _nothing_ to hide what she was thinking towards Macy which were something like, _Girl, if you don't back off this second, I swear I will bitch-slap you so hard…._

It was the second time today that Macy look afraid of her as she let her hand fall off Bennett who stood up slowly while saying, "Sure." obviously hesitant and confused. Claire grabbed his arm in a vice and dragged him out of the room without even bothering to look to see if the teacher would notice them leaving.

"Claire, what's going on?" Bennett asked as soon as the door closed behind them.

She dragged him a few feet farther down the hall before turning to let him have it but then unintentionally bursting into tears instead.

"Claire!" Bennett said in alarm while putting both of his hands on the sides of her arms. "Hey! I'm sorry I asked you to talk with Macy! Obviously, it didn't go well but-"

He cut off as Claire shoved him away from her. She could see his surprise while she took all her strength and buried her sobs so that she could speak.

"I know we aren't together anymore… and that we never will be again…" she said in a surprisingly calm and controlled voice.

"What? Claire, I don't understand…" Bennett said clearly lost at her direction.

"But I thought that whatever happened between us was just that…. Between _us_." She finished with her voice shaking by the end.

Bennett simply had a dumbfounded look on his face before saying,

"Of course, it would be between us….. it was all _between us_ ….."

"Then how is it that you feel comfortable discussing the decisions _we_ decided to make about sex, with other people?!" Claire demanded while not being able to contain the tears now leaking from her eyes.

"Claire…. I'm sorry… I didn't think you'd….. I only…." He spluttered while reaching to touch the tops of her arms below her shoulders again.

She shoved away again while taking a step back.

"The entire football team now knows that I let you get to second base after the Midvale game…. Do you have any idea how embarrassing that is!? I trusted you, even if I never did let you 'seal the deal', Bennett! I thought that that was a decision we had made together…. I have _never_ felt so betrayed in my entire life!" suddenly she wasn't ashamed of her tears as they helped to portray the depth of her hurt and knew that her emotions were never something she feel ashamed of.

"What!?" he asked in shocked disbelief. "The football team knows about the Midvale game?"

"Yeah, and that I'm still a virgin despite it…. It seems your locker room talk made it around!" she spit at him while wrapping an arm around her waist, trying to find comfort and hold herself together.

"But…. I never told _anyone_ that! Claire, I would never betray what we had like that! The only person I told was…" and then he faded off with a look of realization on his face. Claire realized it must be what her face looked like because he seemed to have the same look of betrayal on his own.

"Who?" Claire asked in frustration.

"Macy." He admitted in a dead voice. "The only person I told our sexual history too was Macy."

Claire felt her hands start to shake as her anger flared high and hot again. Macy. Macy had spread the gossip so deep of her own boyfriend's history with Claire that the entire football now knew it, not to mention who else by this point.

"I'm done." Claire said in a deadly calm voice.

"What?" Bennett asked.

"I'm done with her, Bennett. I have tried to build bridges, I have tried to be gracious even while taking every single hit from her just because she's so insecure she can't see past me to see you in front of her! But no more! She's crossed a line and I swear if she crosses me again, I'll take her out, Bennett! Keep her away from me or you're going to have a problem if you think that the gossip is bad just because we broke up… imagine what people will say when I break your girlfriend's nose and put _her_ in a cast for eight weeks!"

Claire was fuming and pacing back and forth trying to walk off some of her access anger, but she felt like there was too much of it to even contain, especially on top of all of the other hurt, betrayal, and humiliation she was feeling.

"Okay, look…." Bennett said reasonably, "What she did was _bad_ , and I'm hurt by this too, Claire, but you can't know that she _meant_ for it to go that far-"

Claire cut him off, too impatient in her anger to let him finish,

"You don't understand, Bennett. Because of what _SHE_ told people the football team now has a bet to see who can take me to prom! Yeah, and if the lucky guy manages to bag my virginity too then the prize money doubles!"

She was angry enough that she said it all completely clearly but the second she actually admitted the situation out loud she immediately broke down in sobs. She hadn't sobbed so hard since Bennett had phased and Quil had told her they could never be together again…. Even when Bennett had imprinted on Macy she hadn't sobbed as hard. She already Quil then anyways. Now it felt like there was nothing standing between her and the most vulnerable public humiliation she could possibly imagine. She was folded in half unable to stand as she raked out tears combined with heaving sobs.

"Oh, Claire…!" Bennett said in sympathetic horror.

He immediately dragged her onto the floor between his legs that he stretched out in front of him as he put his arms around her and pulled her into him.

They sat like that, with Bennett's back against the lockers while he held Claire to his chest and she sobbed against him. She was grateful he didn't say anything as he held her, rubbing his hand up and down her back while she cried out her pain. For the first time ever, Bennett couldn't make her feel better about a crappy situation…

Claire was surprised when Bennett rubbed her back vigorously a few minutes later before saying,

"We need to move, Claire, class is about to let out."

That meant that they had to have been sitting there for at least forty minutes and that couldn't possibly be right. Claire had specifically stayed at school so that she wouldn't miss anymore class and she had missed all of it…. And now so had Bennett. She wanted to apologize to him about it but didn't bother. She didn't have the energy when she knew that he would just refuse any of her apologies and try to accept blame himself.

Claire sniffed her ridiculous sobs back and wiped her eyes sloppily with the back of her hand as she pulled back from Bennett's chest to stand up. He quickly followed her lead, grabbing the sides of her arms to help lift her up and steady her as she stood. _Always the gentlemen…_ Claire thought to herself as she thought again about how she wished she could change the fact that _Macy_ was his imprint. He deserved so much more than her. The last forty minutes alone proved it.

"Thanks, Bennett." She sputtered after crying so much.

He seemed like he couldn't speak. She felt like he was almost as torn up about the football team's bet as she was. He just nodded his head with his lips pressed together. They slowly started to make their way down the hall towards the doors of the school that lead to the student parking lot. They didn't even acknowledge the door to their history class they were supposed to be in as they walked past it. Bennett kept a comforting arm wrapped around her shoulder the entire time and Claire was grateful. She felt like his loving support was the only thing keeping her together… like she was a dam of emotion being held back by scotch tape. If it wasn't for Bennett's physical hold she didn't think she'd even be able to move and one thing was for sure, lying in a sobbing heap on the floor while the entire student body walked past would definitely make her day worse.

Claire stopped when they reached the doors to sniff and wipe her face some more with shaking hands.

"Come on…. I'll give you a ride home." Bennett said softly.

Claire suddenly wondered what she had ever done to deserve a friend like Bennett. She would have expected this exact sort of incredibly kind and selfless behavior from him when they were dating, but that only proved what an amazing boyfriend he was… now it just proved to her what an amazing person and friend he was in general. She shook her head and cleared her throat so that she could say calmly,

"That's alright, Rachel's my ride. I'll just wait for her by the car."

"Are you sure? I don't want to leave you alone right now…." Bennett said hesitantly while they stood ready to open the doors they hadn't touched yet.

She nodded and said, "I'm sure. I'll be fine."

He seemed doubtful and then he surprised her by pulling her into a tight hug. He held her close as he said,

"Claire, I'm _so_ sorry!"

For once she didn't feel like crying anymore as she let him hold her and said calmly,

"It's okay… well… okay, it's _not okay_ but none of this is your fault and I don't blame you!"

He pulled back from the hug with a look that clearly said he felt like he deserved at least some of the blame. Claire didn't want to argue when she knew exactly who she blamed, and it would only hurt him to hear it.

"Hey, can you do me a favor though?" Claire asked hesitatingly.

"Sure! Anything." He said willingly.

"….. Just…. Don't tell Quil..?" Claire asked without quite being able to make eye contact with him.

"Claire… what….?" Bennett asked clearly in surprised disagreement about hiding it from her boyfriend…. Her soulmate… Her forever.

"He already wants me to pull out, Bennett! How do think he's going to take it when he finds out the entire football team is trying to get in my pants and make money off it!?" Claire reasoned while feeling all sorts of jumpy energy.

"Yeah, but don't you think he has a right to know? To protect you however he can?" He argued back.

"I don't know, Bennett… what can he really do? He'll just stress and be upset about it until I finally pull out just to give him peace of mind and that's not what I want! We both know that all of this is just a faze that'll pass -an incredibly crappy faze, but either way by next year this will ALL be old news and then I can still have two years of regular high school experiences that I'll miss if I leave now just because things suck!"

Claire was desperate for him to understand. The truth was she was more desperate to stay in school than she was desolate about intentionally deceiving Quil, something she never thought she'd EVER do….

"Claire…" Bennett said hesitant and clearly not convinced. "I'm not even sure I _CAN_ hide it from him… I'll probably slip up and think about it and then he'll just see it all in my head and be pissed at both of us for trying to keep it from him."

Claire nodded her head in agreement at his point. It was a valid thought she couldn't argue with. She wondered for a second if it was even worth trying to hide it or if she would just have to face the music and own up to it with Quil.

"Okay, well what if I promise that I will _eventually_ tell him the whole story?... Let's just don't do anything about it now… who knows, maybe the whole thing will blow over in a couple of days anyways…. If it doesn't…. well if it escalates too much than I promise I'll tell him, I couldn't hide it at that point anyways… but just for now, he doesn't need any more reasons to not want me here." She asked while feeling like she couldn't even explain why she so desperately didn't want Quil to know yet.

"Alright... It's your relationship. I won't tell him, and I'll do my best to focus on other things when he's in my head… shouldn't be too hard…" Bennett agreed, looking like he already had other things in his head to focus on, and none of it seemed too pleasant.

"Thanks." Claire sighed, relieved that she could at least potentially avoid fighting with Quil about what was best for her. "I'll see you later."

"See you, Claire." Bennett said a little sadly giving her a reassuring squeeze to her shoulder before turning back around the way they had come as Claire pushed opened the door and walked out.

The bell hadn't rung yet, so she took her time wiping her face as she slowly made her way to where Rachel had parked the Jetta that morning. She was about halfway across the parking lot when her phone vibrated in her pocket, it was a text from Quil,

 **Why are you crying?**

Claire froze where she was to stare at her phone in shock for a moment before looking up to look around her. It took her a second, but she spotted the Camaro parked about a hundred yards away, on the street just past the turn off into the parking lot. She figured Quil was trying to lie low after she had made such a big deal that morning about him not being seen at the school.

She smiled to herself as she changed directions to hurry quickly to the car parked off school grounds. As soon as she reached Quil's car a sense of calm filled her just from being close to her safe haven. She touched the top of the car and stopped to just take a breath and absorb the peace before she opened the door and slid into the passenger seat.

She took another breath as she sat in her seat and threw her bag behind her before turning to look at Quil and then giving a slight gasp of surprise while her eyes filled with tears again. He was holding a dozen red roses in his lap while tentatively watching her.

"Hi." He said nervously.

"Hi!" She said with her voice full of emotion. "Are those for me?"

She was choking up over it as he nodded and handed her the bouquet.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about this morning, Claire. I had no idea how much people were actually talking about you at school…. I mean you told me about it, but it wasn't until I was there _hearing_ everything that _everyone_ was saying about you that I actually got it. I realize now how much worse it would have been if people saw me there…. I'm sorry. When you asked me not to come I should have listened."

Claire's tears were spilling over at his sincere apology and she tried to cover how emotional she was being by leaning her face into the beautiful bouquet and feeling the soft petals against her face as she smelled their sweet fragrance.

She wanted to thank him but couldn't find her choked up voice after such an emotional day, so she kept fighting back her stream of tears as she reached her left hand out to grab his and squeezed it as tightly as she could. She couldn't look at him while she was still crying and just examined the gorgeous bouquet of dark red roses that were already in bloom instead.

"Are you mad?" He asked her nervously.

"No," she said confidently with her voice still choked with emotion and she dropped his hand to wipe at her face with the heel of hers, "not at all!"

She quickly grabbed his hand again wanting to hold onto him as he reached around with his left to touch her face softly while he wiped her tears.

"Then why are you crying?" He asked so softly it gave her tingles.

She finally found her voice again when she turned to look at him for the first time and answered, "Because, I've had a _really_ bad day and you just made it so much better. These are so beautiful, thank you!"

His answering smile made her heart flutter and his face lit up when he said softly, "Your welcome." and leaned in for a kiss that made her forget why she had started crying in the first place.

* * *

 ***Author's Note***

 **Phew! Okay so this chapter was super emotional for me to write and even coming back a few months later to edit it it's still painful for me... But I'm excited to get reactions and perspectives! I know, I know, Macy is the WORST... It's literally the number one comment I probably get about my story but unfortunately even though Macy herself is fictional, girls like her are all too real, _especially_ insecure ones and I wish that I had the understanding at Claire's age that she does that it's not about her... anyways, I'm dying to hear what you think, so please let me know! Thanks for reading and sticking with me!**

 **xoxo**

 **Jess**


	14. Chapter 13

***Author's Note***

 **Surprise! This chapter is one of the very rare ones from Bennett's perspective! There's only one per book, so I hope you enjoy. With everything going on I felt that his voice just deserved to be heard again and hopefully this is a refreshing change of pace and a better insight into him as a character! Hope you enjoy!**

 **xoxo**

* * *

CHAPTER 13

 **Bennett:**

Bennett stopped about halfway down the hall so that he could slam his head against the lockers. Fortunately, the bell rang at the same moment, so it covered the loud din of his head against metal but since students started pouring out of classrooms he had to pull back from the small dent he had just made and act normal as he kept meandering down the hall like he wasn't losing it internally.

He was just grateful he had managed to get Claire out of there before school had ended and she would have to overhear more of the gossip and speculation about them now interlaced with all of the talk about the bet for prom and her virginity. It made him so angry his hands started shaking. Claire was probably the kindest hearted person he had ever met. Someone he had originally wanted to spend the rest of his life with and she deserved nothing but love and respect. She sure as hell didn't deserve what she was getting, that was for sure.

He was only about fifteen feet away from making his way back to history just as Macy came tumbling out with her heavy bag over her shoulder and looking as pissed as ever. He could tell from the way she was looking around she was searching for him, determined to track him down since he had left with Claire and never come back. He had felt his phone buzz with a text in his pocket at least ten times while he had sat in the hall holding Claire and feeling more helpless than he had ever felt before. He usually always knew what to say, how to dispense awkwardness or make someone laugh or smile but this time he was completely clueless as to what he could do or say to make it any better at all….

Macy quickly caught sight of him and then marched double time in his direction with a look on her face that clearly said he was in trouble. He knew that he should be pissed with her, and there was a part of him that definitely was, but as he stopped moving and waited while he watched her make her way determinedly to him the only thing he could really feel was exhaustion.

He was tired of how exhausting it was to always try to keep her happy when she just didn't seem to want to be. He hated to admit it and he'd never say it out loud but if he was being honest with himself, it had never been that difficult with Claire. He didn't think they'd ever even had a single fight, forget about spending hours each day trying to work through disagreements.

He didn't know how to resolve things with her anymore. She was so threatened by Claire he doubted that he could even do anything to make her feel better about it. He had been completely open and honest about _everything_ when it came to his relationships and yet Macy couldn't seem to get past the idea that he would prefer to be with Claire if he could, then with her, his imprint.

Bennett figured even if he cut Claire out of his life completely and never spoke to her again (which he'd never be willing to do and had pointblank refused to when Macy suggested it, resulting in hours of crying from her….) that Macy would still find a way to be threatened by just the idea of her instead.

When she got to him a second later she immediately grabbed onto his arm in the same vice-grip Claire had when she had dragged him out of class an hour earlier.

"Where the hell have you been!? I texted you like a million times! How could you run off with her and never come back!? Do you have any idea how bad that looks!?" She reamed into him in a whisper so low that no one could possibly overhear (Because Lord forbid they don't look like the absolute epitome of the perfect couple) and he could only pick it up clearly because of his supernatural hearing abilities.

He casually shook her hand off his arm while he reached up to pretend to adjust his backpack and then run a hand through his hair, for once he completely ignored her concern as he said simply while looking over her head and avoiding eye contact,

"You ready to go?"

When she didn't respond he looked down at her to see wounded pride written across her face which gave his heart an initial sting but quickly evaporated when he thought about how difficult she had made life for Claire simply to punish her for being Bennett's first love instead of her.

"Do you still want me to take you home?" He asked her clearly, not wanting to get into another argument with her especially in the middle of the hall still crowded with students leaving for the day…. or at all really. Ever. He was ridiculously tired of trying to reason with her.

She looked more pissed than ever before saying sarcastically, "What, are you just going to leave me here!?"

"If that's what you'd prefer." He said simply with a shrug before he started to turn to head back toward the doors where he had left Claire and hoping Rachel made it to her car as quickly as possible and taken her home.

He stopped when Macy grabbed his arm again to keep him from walking away from her,

"What, you spend an hour ditching with _her_ and suddenly you don't need me anymore!?"

Bennett sighed. It was just more of her constant game of prove-how-much -you-love-me- more-than-her, and he was tired of proving himself. He knew he couldn't win against her insecurities anyways, she had to choose to believe it and she wouldn't.

"You know I should probably actually check to make sure Claire gets home alright anyways, thanks for understanding. I'll see you later." He answered calling her on her bluff for the first time and continuing to turn away from her.

"Bennett Callahan, if you walk away from me right now, I swear I'll…I'll…" Macy started.

He stopped turning away to face her again.

"You'll what, Mace? Rail into me some more? Talk about how much I can never love you as much as I loved Claire? Go after some more people I care about? What else is new?" He responded quickly.

The halls were starting to empty now as students were rushing to leave for the day so there wasn't anyone to overhear what he had said but he still felt a stab of guilt when he saw the look on her face like he had slapped her. Normally, his first instinct would be to hold her. To pull her close and tell her he loved her until she felt better. But he just couldn't do it today, not when he was so disappointed in her; not just disappointed but hurt, betrayed, even let down. If he was being honest his mind was being torn between not wanting to even look at her he was so disgusted with her and that part of him that always just wanted to stare at her for the rest of his life… But that part was simply because of the imprint power…. Nothing more… that was what was keeping him with her. They weren't in a healthy place and he knew it. The question he kept asking himself was what was he going to do about it?...

He sighed again as her lower lip quivered a bit and then said simply,

"Look, Mace, do you want a ride today or not?"

"Of course." She answered like it was obvious.

"Alright, let's go." He said resigned as he waited for her to start moving so they could make their way out.

He quickly stuck both of his hands in his pockets so that she wouldn't reach for him. For the first time since he had imprinted on her, he had no desire to touch her (or for her to touch him) what so ever.

She quickly heaved her heavy purse full of textbooks higher up her shoulder before she possessively threaded her arm through his next to her. He had to resist the urge to shake her off, knowing it would just be another complaint about what he had done wrong that she would add to the list to use against him later. He also had to resist the urge to ask her again why she insisted on using a purse to carry her books instead of a backpack. She would just insist that the purse looked so much better but have no problem complaining about her back pain or the amount of weight she had to carry around because of it.

They walked toward the parking lot in silence for a couple of moments before she asked slightly more reasonably, "So, where were you?"

Bennett looked down at his feet for a second as images of Claire's devastated and betrayed, tear-soaked face flashed in his mind's eye, followed by the shot of her bent in half, unable to support herself as she cried in anguish, before he said simply, "I don't really want to talk about it right now."

She scoffed a little and even stopped walking, clearly trying to demand his full attention. He probably would have just kept going if it weren't for the fact that her hand was around his elbow and she was pulling against him. He turned to face her, and she said,

"So, now you're hiding things from me!?"

"Macy, can we not do this today?" He asked in complete exhaustion.

"Oh, I would love to not do this today! But you're the one who was all over her in first period! The one who-" She was starting on one of her usual angry long-winded rants when he cut across.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"It's all over the school! I had to hear from at least three people about how you had your hands all over Claire Young" (she said the name like it disgusted her) "…in first period before making your public declaration of love about how you would _never_ break up with her!" She said it so accusingly, like he was one the one to betray to her, that he actually started laughing.

He knew immediately that it would just make the situation worse, but he didn't care, he was done trying to make her feel better about it.

She yanked hard on his arm and demanded, "How can you laugh about it!?"

"Because that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, and I know you know it's not true so I'm not going to sit here and defend myself to you." He answered calmly while letting her hand slide out of his arm as he turned to continue to walk toward the parking lot.

"Bennett!" She said in shock, but he just kept walking.

"If you want a ride, Macy, I suggest you keep moving. I'm leaving, but if you want I can call your mom to come pick you up." He answered casually without looking back at her.

He could tell she hadn't moved and she continued to stand there apparently playing chicken to see if he would come back to her. He didn't, he just kept walking away. He was almost to the doors before she started jogging awkwardly in her heels, clacking against the tile floor, to catch up to him.

"I can't believe you would just leave me here!" She said like he was abandoning her in a strange city… on the bad side of town… without any money… or even a phone… "Do you even love me at all!?"

Bennett stopped with his hands pressed against the door he was about to push open. He closed his eyes and pushed his forehead against the door as her words rang through his mind. How could she _still_ be trying to manipulate him? After how incredibly hard he had worked to make her happy, to make her feel loved, secured, even adored the last six weeks how could she _still_ be trying to push her own agenda through emotional blackmail. Didn't she even love _him_ at all?

He didn't even answer her question as he shoved the door open in frustration and walked out ahead of her. Instead of holding it open for her he just let it go behind him. He didn't look back as he made his way to his mom's crossover that was now his. She'd used the insurance money from his car that was totaled in the accident to buy herself the new car she'd been eyeing for the last six months. If Macy wanted him to take her home, she had better get in the car quickly because he wasn't kidding about leaving. A part of him truly hoped she would stay where she was so he could leave her behind and not have to deal with her anymore.

He was about halfway to his car when he heard her small, scared, "Bennett?"

She was clearly surprised that he had walked away instead of making every effort under the sun to convince her that he really did love her.

"Bennett! Wait! I'm sorry!" She called after him as she chased him down.

He didn't slow. He didn't want to hear her apology, it would just be more manipulation anyways. She reached him right as he was getting to his car. When he didn't stop to look at her before he opened the driver's side door and slid in, she immediately ran around and hopped into the passenger seat.

"Bennett! I'm sorry! I _know_ you love me!" She said desperately as tears started pouring down her face. He was starting the car and putting it into gear to pull out as she continued, "You and Claire have just put me through so much today! I just wanted a little reassurance!"

"Hah!" He scoffed out a laugh before asking in disbelief, "What have _we_ ever put _you_ through!?"

"Everyone still thinks you're in love with her!" She cried like it was the ultimate pain and betrayal.

"Who cares!? Who cares what everybody thinks!? I can't base my life on trying to win the approval of the masses!" He immediately shot back at her, his voice rising with the frustration that had been building in him for weeks.

"Why are you so mad at me!?" She cried like he was hurting her. "You know how hard it is for me to have you always taking care of her!"

"Why is it always about you, Mace? Are you just completely incapable of thinking about _anyone_ else!? Even for a moment?" He asked her in slight disgust.

"I think about you all of the time! You know that!" She cried frantically.

"No. You don't." He answered confidently.

"Of course, I do! You're all I ever think about!" She insisted.

"No, Macy. When you think about me, you only think about how whatever I'm doing affects you." He assured her.

She was silent for a second like she was absorbing the difference. He used her momentary silence to continue,

"When do you ever think about me? What I want; what I think….? Hell, what about _my_ feelings? You want me to constantly prove to you how much I love you but what have you ever done to prove you love me?" He argued.

She seemed to be in completely stunned silence for a moment and Bennett could tell he surprised her when he pulled off the rainy highway that lead towards her house to park in a lookout section and then put the car in park, so he could look at her while finally expressing his true feelings.

"Is this because I hit Claire?" She asked unashamed.

"You _HIT_ Claire!?" Bennett asked in shocked horror.

Macy's eyes widened when she saw his reaction to what she had revealed.

"Oh shit, Macy!" He said in completely disgusted disbelief as he slapped his hands to his face and pulled them down, dragging his face with them before yanking them back through his hair in agitation.

"Why did you ask me if I'd had sex with Claire?" He asked without moving his hands away to look at her.

"What?" She asked surprised in his change in direction.

"Last week you asked me if I'd ever had sex with Claire even though I'd already told you I hadn't, but you kept asking these really specific questions wanting to know exactly what had happened between us….. is that why you asked? So, that you could find out exactly when and where?" Bennett asked while still refusing to look at her.

"What are you talking about? I have a right to know who you've been physically involved with!" Macy insisted defensively.

"Who did you tell?" He asked calmly.

"I didn't tell anyone! I would never tell someone a secret you told me!" She immediately answered.

He finally turned to look at her in sheer disbelief. He couldn't believe she was actually going to try to lie her way out of this.

"Who did you tell?" He said more insistently.

"Stop saying that!" She said in a panicky voice.

He blew out an angry breath before saying, "Do you know what Claire wanted to talk to me about during history?"

"I would if you didn't refuse to tell me!" She said like he was the one holding back from her.

"Sure." He answered casually. "She wanted to know how I could ever betray her trust by casually talking about our sexual history with other people."

Macy looked at him in shocked dismay.

"What other people?" She asked suspiciously.

"The entire football team has a pool to see who can get her to go to prom with them…" He started but Macy scoffed, "Of course! Everyone just needs more of Claire!" annoying him even more and making his voice rise as he finished over top of her, " _AND_ if the guy can take her virginity the price doubles since _apparently_ _**I**_ wasn't able to get the job done."

She seemed speechless for a short moment before saying dismissively, "Well you can't know that wasn't from something _she_ said."

Bennett blew out a breath before pulling out his phone and reading out loud from the mass text sent to the entire football team,

"' _Bennett Callahan never sealed the deal since he couldn't get past second base after the Midvale game and that was the closest he ever got_ ….' How would they know about the Midvale game, Macy?"

She suddenly looked like a deer caught in the headlights and her mouth dropped opened before she started crying again and saying,

"It's not my fault! I was just venting to some friends! _You_ know _my_ sex history which means anyone in the pack can know it too, so I just figured I had just as much right to confide in people!"

"How is my potentially accidentally thinking about the fact that you've had sex with Caleb when I'm a wolf – which has never happened by the way because I actually respect you, or at least I used to- even _remotely_ close to you just telling what, multiple people? When and how I hooked up with Claire!?" Bennett asked in disgusted disbelief.

"Bennett, I'm so sorry!" She sobbed while grabbing at his hand and holding it between hers as she dragged it up to her chest.

"Yeah, well so am I! I'm sorry that I ever trusted you to begin with… not only did you completely betray my trust, but you turned around and used the information I told you in confidence to specifically try to hurt her!" Bennett shouted angrily finally letting his emotions dictate his tone with her.

"I'm sorry! It was an accident! She practically shouted at lunch yesterday that I'd had sex with Caleb…. She announced it to the whole school, Bennett! And _THEN_ she threw herself at you and started whispering all seductively in your ear in front of everyone! I was just talking to some friends! She's such a hypocrite!" Macy tried to defend herself like she had any possible justification at all.

Bennett was completely at a loss. He stared at her in stunned disbelief for a full thirty seconds before saying in a dead voice,

"I can't do this."

He wasn't even going to try to argue with her about what had happened at lunch when she was obviously so skewed about it. Claire had publicly and openly defended her when she had no reason to, not to mention she had put her own safety at risk to help him as a friend and took the chance of literally exploding along with him just to help him pull his shit together, all why Macy had walked away.

"Wha-at?" She asked in a shaky tear-filled voice.

"Yeah..." He said more certainly, feeling a sense of relief from finally pulling the trigger. "I'm done. I'm out, Macy. I can't be with someone who treats people like this! Especially, people I care about… forget about how you treat me!"

"Wha-at are yo-ou say-ing?" She cried out around sobs.

"I want to breakup." He said confidently and without any hesitation.

He knew it would hurt her and he would have felt a pang of guilt about it if it weren't for the fact that she had made it abundantly clear she didn't care about hurting anyone around her.

"But…. But… I'm you're imprint! You can't breakup with me! You love me! You need me!" She insisted in disbelief.

It dawned on Bennett how ironic it was that she seemed to magically grasp the concept that he did actually love her the second he broke up with her.

"Yeah, I do." He said confidently, "But I don't have to be your boyfriend and I can't be with you right not…. Not like this."

She stared at him in uncomprehending disbelief until he put the car in drive again and pulled back out to take her home.

"Don't do this! Please, Bennett, don't do this!" She suddenly begged grabbing at his arm while he was driving.

"Macy don't make this harder than it has to be." He said reasonably even while knowing that was her entire M.O.

"But I love you!" She said like it made a difference at this ridiculously screwed point.

Bennett just shook his head, not wanting to argue it with her. He knew it wouldn't make a difference and he wasn't going to change his mind.

"I do!" She insisted desperately. "I love you more than I've ever loved anyone! That's why I've been acting so crazy! Can't you see that!?"

"Okay, what do you love about me?" Bennett asked getting baited despite himself.

"You're smart, and athletic, and funny!" She listed immediately.

Bennett barely kept himself from scoffing, they were all generic things that teachers had written on report cards. Nothing personal or meaningful. He just nodded without looking at her as he pulled onto her street.

"You're kind and thoughtful!" She said more insistently.

"You can stop, Mace." He said quietly, not wanting to hear anymore bogus empty compliments that wouldn't change anything.

"That! I love that!" She said sincerely through silent tears. "You're the only one who calls me Mace and I love that! I've always hated when anyone else would call me that, but I love it when _you_ do."

"Why didn't you like it before?" He asked in confusion.

She sniffed and wiped at her tears before answering, "It just always reminds me of pepper spray and my dad always said I was spicy enough to be named that…."

Bennett laughed for a second despite the situation.

"You always make me feel safe." She almost whispered it she said it so softly.

"What?" He asked as he pulled in front of her house. He looked at her to see silent tears streaming down her face.

"No matter what, when you hold me I always feel safe and I love that about you."

He reached over and softly touched her face as he said sincerely,

"That's really sweet, Macy. I'm going to miss those moments."

She started crying harder than ever and he realized that until that moment she thought that he wasn't going to actually breakup with her, she thought he was just making her jump through hoops and she had obliged in some ridiculously unhealthy game of manipulative control.

For a second it seemed like she was going to start begging him to stay with her now that she realized he was legitimately leaving. She surprised him when instead she asked,

"So, how is this going to work then?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm still your imprint and we're still in school together so how does that work if we aren't together?" She asked him surprisingly calmly.

He shrugged and thought for a moment before saying. "I'll call you or text you every few days to make sure you're doing okay, and I'll see you at school."

She choked a little on a sob before she opened her door, jumped out, slammed it behind her and then ran up the sidewalk to the front door while covering her mouth, and sobs with her hand as she went.

Bennett blew out a sigh as he put the car in reverse and pulled out of her driveway. There was a part of him that wanted to chase after her and make things right while he held her and whispered in her ear how much he loved her… and yet he couldn't make himself regret breaking up with her. The truth was he _did_ love Macy and always would, but that didn't mean he had to stay with her or support her nasty way of hurting the people she felt threatened by. What kind of a person would it make him if he didn't draw the line at _some_ point?

He drove home while compartmentalizing his heart. He knew it was hurting right now because _she_ was hurting but as soon as she got past the hurt of the breakup she'd be fine and then so would he.

He got home quickly and used his wolf abilities to climb in through his bedroom window on the second story rather than go through the family room and have to make twenty minutes of small talk with both of his grandparents while patiently repeating things over and over for them and then immediately be accosted by his mom who would want at least a twenty-minute run down of his day, overcompensating, as always, for the divorce.

He immediately kicked off each of his shoes and then shrugged off his t-shirt, finally feeling like a normal temperature without so much clothing and with the chill breeze coming through the open window. He pulled his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans and ignored all his texts that were simply demands from Macy wanting to know where he was with Claire during sixth period and group texts from the team about the bet surrounding her. He found her contact and hit call quickly. It still felt like second nature and he was pretty sure he could have done it with his eyes closed after spending so many months talking to her as much as he possibly could every second of everyday.

"Hello?" She answered surprisingly cheerfully on the second ring.

He threw himself down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling as he said,

"Hey, Claire, it's me. How are you doing?"

"Hey, Bennett!" She said happily like she was psyched to hear from him. He knew that was the reason it had taken him so long to get over her. She just had this welcoming nature that would suck you in. "You know… I'm doing alright…. Not great… but I'm okay." She said honestly after what seemed to a moment of thorough evaluation of her feelings.

"Wow. That's impressive… what changed in the hour since I've seen you?" He asked curiously.

"Quil picked me up." She answered honestly with a laugh.

"Wow, Quil must be smooth if he works that fast but to be honest I'm not sure that I want to know what exactly he got you up to that's got you in such a better mood so quickly." He teased with a laugh slightly envious that Quil had known exactly how to help when he had failed. Even if he couldn't do that for Claire he at least wished he could for Macy…

"Bennett!" Claire chastised in a shocked voice. "Remember what happened the last time you tried to make a sex joke about Quil and I!?" She suddenly started laughing and said, "People really think I offered to shower with you if you'd take me to prom?"

He chuckled at the memory of his little outburst that morning in first period. "Yup, that's what the rumors are anyways…."

"Hmm, well maybe that's what I'll tell the next person to ask me to prom, I'm already bound by a shower agreement with my ex…" she teased.

"Did you decide to tell Quil about the bet yet?" He asked sincerely, ignoring her joke.

"No, I think it's best to just leave things as is for now… like I said, if anything gets too out of hand than of course I'll tell him, but in the meantime why upset him over something so stupid?" Her voice answered more quietly like she didn't want him to overhear.

"Yeah, I guess I get that." He answered a little vaguely.

"Hey, you okay?" Claire quickly asked him in response.

He was surprised that she had picked up that he was upset so quickly but at this point he felt like Claire probably knew him better than anyone else… Definitely better than Macy who never really seemed to make an effort to get to know him at all.

He opened his mouth to make one of his usual goofy comments and put her mind at ease, but nothing came out. He suddenly felt like he was choking on his breakup. Like he had just jeopardized his entire future …. But he didn't really see what else he could have done and still kept his self-respect at the same time.

"Bennett? What's wrong?" She asked when he didn't say anything.

A sudden memory flashed across his mind of when they had been dating and his dad had emailed him his ticket to fly out to Cleveland for the first time since the divorce. He hadn't even asked him if he wanted to go. Didn't give him any heads up, just radio silence for months and then suddenly an email with a plane ticket attached. He'd opened the email on his phone at Claire's house while they had been working on homework and then immediately frozen in shock. ' _Bennett? What's wrong?'_ she had said it in the exact same way. He had been about to lie about it when he turned and looked into her large eyes and then the truth had just sprung from him. ' _I'm so sorry! That sucks!_ ' She had said simply and, yet he knew she was being completely sincere. She really was sorry for him and then she had wrapped her arms around him and held tightly to him sitting next to her on the floor of her room. He had been surprised with how much better she had made him feel…. like it didn't even matter… That had been the moment when he had started picturing a serious future with her. The memory made him remember how much she cared about him and he admitted before he could think about it too much,

"I broke up with Macy."

Complete silence on Claire's end.

"Claire?" Bennett asked.

"Yeah, I'm here I'm just trying to get over the shock… Bennett, I don't know what to say…. I'm sorry… That must really hurt…"

Bennett was relieved with how she was taking it. Not making too big a deal about it, not saying it was a mistake, not rubbing in how much of a giant bitch Macy had been to her, just apologizing for his pain.

"Yeah…. It definitely sucks." He admitted and was embarrassed when his voice cracked on the end of 'definitely'.

"Hey, why don't you come over!? Quil's teaching Jamie how to play Mario-Kart -he swears he was like a champion at the nineties version or whatever, but I guess unless we can find a time machine we'll never know, since he's pretty terrible at this one!" Bennett could hear Quil's defensive "Hey!" followed by his laugh in the background.

He laughed in response before hemming his hesitation to join his ex-girlfriend and his brother/pack leader in their happy couple time.

"Come on, afterwards we'll have a ping-pong tournament!" She said enticingly while Quil yelled over the line to 'tell him to finally get his ass over here'. He could hear Claire slap his chest while saying "Quil!" just as Jamie repeated the phrase loud enough for even Bennett to hear. Bennett was laughing too hard at the exchange to even hear the rest of it but a minute later Claire came back on and said,

"Come on, Bennett, it'll be fun! I think we could both use a few hours of hardcore fun after the last two days we had at school! Besides what else are you going to do? Sit around and do homework?"

"Well I was thinking about it, yeah…" Bennett admitted with a smile.

"We can work on the algebra assignment together then too... Come on, what do you say?" She said as cheerfully as ever, and Bennett couldn't believe how unbelievably resilient she was to seem as happy as she did after everything she'd been through the last couple of days. He figured whatever she was doing was what he should be doing too if that's how you bounce back.

The entire situation might be incredibly weird but the more he thought about it the more he hated painting Claire as just his 'ex-girlfriend', she was so much more than that. If he was being honest she was probably his best friend and he could really use a friend at the moment... And Quil was a friend too, granted more of an older, report-to leader type of friend but a friend none-the-less.

"Alright, I'm in." Bennett agreed while sitting up to find a shirt. "But only because of the ping pong… I didn't know you had a ping pong table!"

"Oh yeah! It's a big deal around here." Claire said seriously.

Ten minutes later Bennett was running down the stairs, he'd decided to throw his mom a bone and let her see him at least once today, so he had opted to leave the house in a more traditional way instead of exiting through the window.

"Hey, Gramps, how's your day going?" He asked his grandfather who was sitting at the kitchen table with a glass of juice in front of him as he stared blankly out the window.

"What…. Oh, hey…." He responded vaguely.

His grandfather's dementia had progressed rapidly in the year they had lived there. He remembered Bennett's name about half of the time now, but it seemed like today wasn't one of those days which probably explained why he seemed so spacey.

Bennett just patted his shoulder good-naturedly, undeterred by the exchange as he walked past to the tap and filled a glass of water.

"Where is everyone else? Why are you just chillin in the kitchen alone? Shouldn't grandma's Soap be on by now?" Bennett asked even while realizing the questions were probably way too detailed and specific for him to answer before drinking from his glass.

"Karen…. It's Karen…. She's…. Karen." His grandfather answered referring to his mother name without giving any more information as to her actual whereabouts.

"Sure." Bennett responded like it answered all his questions.

He was about to pull out his phone to call his mom when she came walking through the door loaded with grocery bags.

"There you are, Bennett. Sweetheart, you're blocking me in… I can't park in the garage with your car in the driveway." She said as soon as she spotted him standing with his hand on his grandfather's shoulder again.

"It's cool, I'm just about to take off. Are there more in the car?" He asked as he took the heavy grocery bags in a single hand that his mom had had to lace up across both of her arms.

"No, this is it. I just needed to get supplies for dinner tonight. We're eating at six thirty sharp, so be home on time, mister!" His mom replied while starting to unload the bags he had placed on the counter.

He was surprised she hadn't asked for a detailed analysis of his day – one he didn't want to give. He suspected she wouldn't just let him leave without some questions though, so he decided to try to throw her off before she had the chance.

"Sounds good… what's for dinner?" He asked as he grabbed a power bar out of one of the bags since he hadn't eaten in at least two hours.

"Beef stroganoff. How was your day?" His mom immediately asked. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he turned to the side, so she couldn't read his face.

"Fine… got another killer algebra assignment…" he answered hoping it was enough specific information to satisfy her.

"Oofh.. do you need a tutor? I don't want your grades to slip because you're struggling…" she said with concern.

He had to resist the urge to reply sarcastically, knowing his impatient mood had nothing to do with her.

"Naw, I'm doing fine." He answered unconcerned before he bent down to kiss her cheek as he pulled out his keys. "Everything okay here?" He asked as he gestured his head back at his grandfather who had gone back to staring vaguely out the window.

"Yeah… Just not one of our better days." She explained with a sad shrug.

Bennett nodded as he continued to back toward the door.

"Alright, I'll be back for dinner."

He noticed his mom turn her attention back to the groceries in front of her and figured he was in the clear as he turned to go but before he could make it any farther than the front door she said,

"Sounds good. Where are you going?"

He blew out a breath before turning back to face her as he answered,

"Eh, to Claire's house….. She's going to help me with the Algebra assignment…"

"To Claire's house?" His mom asked in surprised. "You haven't been there since you guys broke up… Macy's not going to like that…"

He blew out another breath knowing he couldn't avoid the inevitable before saying a little bracingly, "Mom, I broke up with Macy today."

She immediately set the groceries in her hand back down on the counter and turned to give him her complete attention. He was expecting her to ask a million detailed questions about it as she started to walk slowly to him across the kitchen in silence. Every step she took made him more nervous when she didn't ask anything and just kept continuing to stare, evaluating his face.

When she finally made it to him he had to look down at his feet to avoid her intense eye contact as he tried to swallow his breakup back down again.

"Well…." She said reassuringly as she started to rub the side of his arm. "I think that's probably for the best."

He looked up at her in surprise. It had been about the last thing he had been expecting her to say.

"What? I thought you liked Macy?" Bennett replied in shock.

"Eh, Macy's alright…. I like _you_ , Bennett… you're the only thing I care about and you've seemed more and more stressed since you've started dating her…. It shouldn't be that complicated at seventeen… the person you should be with should make you happy and you shouldn't spend so much time with someone who doesn't." She explained seeming unfazed by it all.

"Wow… That was unexpected…" he said as he tried to process her response. He was surprised with how relieved he felt by his mom's approval of his decision. "Thanks, mom." He said leaning in to give her a quick hug. "I love you, I'll see you later!" He told her sincerely as he started backing away knowing that if he stayed any longer she would start to ask him detailed questions about his feelings about it.

"Love you, Boo!" She replied, calling him by his nickname she'd called him since he was a small child. It was short for 'Bennett-Boo'.

She watched him go until he shut the front door behind him and then he blew out a sigh of relief at having finally escaped before she could push for too many details, both about things at school and his breakup with Macy.

He was surprised at how second nature it felt to drive to Claire's house again. He hadn't driven there since the day he had phased when he was supposed to fly to Cleveland. The day he had promised Claire that she would be the only one he would ever love. He had meant it. Sometimes he wished his life was still as simple as it had seemed that afternoon. He tried not to think about it as he pulled up behind Quil's Camaro.

He kept trying to shake off the feeling that this was going to be the weirdest afternoon of his life instead of the 'hardcore fun' that Claire had promised as he walked hesitantly up to the front door and knocked. He suddenly smiled to himself remembering the last time he had been there and how Quil had warned him not to be an ass.

He was still smiling to himself a second later when Claire whipped the door open. She gave him a very chipper, "Hi!" followed by an immediate look of concern.

She suddenly jumped him as she pulled him into a tight hug he was completely unprepared for.

"I'm sorry!" She was suddenly crying against him. "This is just all my fault! I never should have been so mean to her! I just snapped! But that doesn't excuse it and I'm really sorry, Bennett!"

Bennett was in complete shock at her reaction as he wrapped his arms around her in return. He looked around him as he evaluated his surroundings while he tried to process what was happening. He noticed a glass vase with a bouquet of red roses on the kitchen table behind Claire as he looked over her head and then noticed Quil and Jamie in the family room, clearly playing an intense round of Mario-Kart, but Quil paused it to look over at them when he heard Claire's emotional greeting.

"…. Claire…." Bennett said in shock. "It's NOT your fault…" he said confidently wishing she would go back to handling it as casually as she had on the phone.

"You can say that, but I know _I'm_ what she was so pissed about…." Claire sniffed. "You guys were fine when I was still in Tennessee."

"Well that's not _exactly_ true…." Bennett hedged not really wanting to talk about his relationship with Macy… even with Claire.

He quickly turned to look at Quil for help. Quil immediately jumped up to make his way to them where Claire was still clinging to him as she tried to stop crying.

"Claire…" Quil said reasonably as he reached them and touched her back gently. "You're smothering him… Let him go, Babe."

She pulled back finally as she wiped her face and sniffed. She seemed to stop crying as she said more brightly. "Sorry! I just feel so bad….."

Bennett laughed a little at her obvious concern before saying, "Don't, Claire. You have enough to worry about, don't stress about me."

She nodded her head as Quil wrapped an arm comfortingly around her waist. He kissed her forehead softly and then faced Bennett to mouth the word ' _period'_ above her where she couldn't see.

Bennett felt like it was more information about his ex-girlfriend than he ever wanted to know, though it did explain why her scent had changed slightly in the last few hours and why she was acting so crazy emotional.

She pulled herself together better though as she pulled Bennett farther into the house, so she could shut the front door behind him. She seemed more collected when she said,

"Sorry. I'm making it all about me! How are _you_ doing, Bennett?"

The difference between her and Macy was striking in that moment. It felt like a slap across the face when he realized that Claire probably legitimately loved him more as just a simple friend than Macy had ever loved him at all.

He shrugged the feeling off to focus on the question and then was relieved when he could be his old goofy-self as he replied teasingly,

"Oh, I'm alright. I've had worse breakups!"

She scoffed in response and shoved at his arm in front of her while Quil chuckled standing beside her with his hand resting lightly on her back still.

"Thanks for the reminder! All I need is to feel _more_ guilt!" She replied.

Bennett rolled his eyes and said, "Would you stop!? You don't need to feel guilty about me, Claire! We're fine!"

She gave him a bright happy smile at his words as she lit up in response. "Alright! I'll stop then."

"Good!" Quil responded before Bennett had a chance to. "Now can I finally kick the kid's ass- trash!" (He immediately revised at the look Claire gave him for cursing in front of Jamie again) "…at Mario-Kart!?

"Bring it old man! I didn't even know they originally made Mario-Kart in black and white!" Bennett immediately responded, grateful for the change in subject.

Claire laughed at his comment as Quil threw his arms in the air and said in exasperation, "What is with this generation!? You all think anything born before the 2000's is ancient!" He leaned forward to sucker punch Bennett's shoulder hard enough to sting.

"Naw, Babe…. just you!" Claire immediately teased him in response before Bennett could return the punch. It would probably turn into a brawl anyways, so he should let it drop.

Quil immediately started tickling her waist and wrapping his arms around her while she squealed with laughter, she was begging him to stop between giggles as she pulled her feet off the ground so that he was lifting her weight as he said, "Alright! Let's see which generation is actually better at it then!"

They had such a distinct comfortableness in the way that they interacted around each other that they were hard for Bennett to watch. They had an obvious love and happiness that just seemed natural to them. It immediately reinforced in him that he had made the right decision. Even in their best moments things had never been as effortless between he and Macy as they were with Quil and Claire. The ego part of him wanted to deny it but the truth was he had never seen Claire looking as happy as she did when she was teasing her Quil. She looked completely at peace that went beyond her happy giggles as he tickled her.

"Alright, break it up… I get it, Quil. You guys are in love… You don't have to prove it for my sake, it just seems like overcompensating!" Bennett teased as Quil set Claire back on her feet and then put his hand on Bennett's face and shoved him away while landing a surprisingly soft kiss on Claire's cheek right next to her lips.

"Come on! Let's play!" Quil said eagerly before a surprised looking Claire could respond.

He was already dragging her back into the family room while Bennett followed close behind her.

They only made it a few feet when they all stopped simultaneously when they noticed Jamie still standing in the family room with his arms folded across his chest and looking more pissed than Bennett had ever seen him.

"Jamie, what's wrong?" Claire immediately asked concerned.

"Are you serious!? Him!?" Jamie said accusingly as he pointed a demanding finger at Bennett. Before anyone could even respond he was yelling, "You said no more Bennett!"

Bennett was shocked and wondered what he could have ever done to make the kid hate him so much. He had originally been hesitant to get to know Bennett when he had first started dating Claire but after that he had never seemed like he had had a problem with him…. until now.

"Whoa, little man. Dial it back. Don't yell at your sister like that." Quil said reasonably while Claire and Bennett were still too surprised to respond.

Jamie was tearing up now as he looked between Quil and Claire and said in a hurt voice, "You said you were dating now and that you were done with Bennett! You said that he had his own imprint and that you chose Quil!"

"Jamie…." Claire said in shock, but Bennett suddenly felt completely calm as he crouched down so that he was almost the exact same eye level as Jamie and spoke to him without hesitation.

"Hey, little man."

Jamie immediately gave him what he could only assume was the dirtiest look he could possibly muster.

"I know it's kind of confusing, but I'm not here to break Claire up with Quil. I'm actually really glad she's with him now." Bennett told him sincerely.

Jamie just gave him a look of complete distrust.

"No, it's true! In fact, I'm not even here for her at all…" Bennett promised.

"You aren't?" Jamie asked, and he seemed like he was starting to relax a little.

"No! I'm here to hang out with you!" He quickly replied.

Jamie seemed to assess him distrustingly and Bennett had no idea what it was the kid saw on his face, but he must have found what he was looking for because a minute later his whole face lit up into a huge smile.

"Alright, cool." He said cheerfully as he grabbed Bennett's hand and dragged him across the room to sit on the couch next to him so closely that his entire left leg was touching Bennett's thigh.

"Yeah, 'cause if he was here for that I'd kick his real as-trash!" Quil said softly so that it wouldn't draw too much of Jamie's attention and Claire immediately slapped his chest and exclaimed, " _Quil!_ "

Bennett laughed and said, "Yeah, I'm sure you would!" a little sarcastically like it completely didn't fazed him but the second Quil's back was turned he gave Claire an alarmed wide-eyed look that conveyed how seriously he took the threat.

She chuckled in response to his antics before mouthing "Sorry!" over Jamie's head as she nodded down towards him.

He just shrugged it off as he shook his head at her, so she'd know he wasn't fazed by Jamie's less than happy welcome. Jamie reached over the couch arm that he was sandwiched against and grabbed a controller off the end table there. He surprised Bennett when he smacked it onto his lap and said, "Here! You can be player one!"

"Hey!" Quil immediately exclaimed in good-natured exasperation. "That was mine!"

"When's the last time you came over just to hang out with me?" Jamie accused him.

"Um, only the entire time Claire was in Tennessee!" Quil defended.

Jamie stopped as everyone watched to see his response.

"Okay, you win. Sorry, Bennett!" Jamie replied as he took the controller back out of his hand and gave it back to Quil. Bennett laughed in response as Jamie continued, "But, Quil, you really need to improve your game if you want to be player one…."

Quil rolled his eyes in response as Claire picked up two more controllers out of a basket on the tv console and brought one to Bennett before sitting on the floor next to his legs.

"I dibs Yoshi!" She immediately said.

"No, you have to be Princess Peach because she's the only girl." Jamie immediately said like it was a decree.

"Jamie! Um I don't think I have to do anything _because_ I'm a girl… besides that's sexist, Peach is super slow!" She immediately responded.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you!" Jamie responded like Claire wasn't prepared to handle the game.

They played for twenty minutes and each round Jamie, Claire, and Bennett just ended up laughing harder each time Quil's cart would drive right off the track or else get stuck driving directly into the wall. Finally, Quil surprised everyone when he tossed his controller to the side and stood up abruptly saying, "Alright, that's it!" He'd rolled his eyes plenty, but he had never seemed truly upset by their good-natured mockery.

"I'll be back and then you'll see…." He said over his shoulder as he walked towards the front door.

"Quil! Where are you going!?" Claire called in alarmed surprise.

"I'll be back!" He called more emphatically without looking back as he slammed the front door closed behind him.

Bennett and Claire immediately looked at each other with a confused, questioning look on both of their faces.

"Has he ever done that before?" Bennett asked confused.

"Never." Claire responded seeming concerned.

"Come on! Let's finish the tournament!" Jamie demanded.

Claire and Bennett shrugged at each other in response before starting the game again without Quil. It didn't make much of a difference though since Quil had been in dead last anyways.

They spent the next twenty minutes continuing to play while Jamie only marginally crushed them each time. After the first few rounds Bennett noticed Claire start to check her phone to look at the time after each race. He noticed that the home screen was a photo of her in her homecoming dress with Quil. He wondered when they had taken it since she was already wearing the homecoming princess tiara and Quil wasn't wearing a shirt. He was suddenly grateful he had never known about Quil while they had been dating…. There was no way he could have handle it...

Finally, after about the fifth time Claire had checked the time to see how long Quil had been gone, they heard the front door open and turned to see Quil walking back in with a box in his hands and looking a little smug.

"There! Now you guys are going to experience the way Mario-Kart was _intended_ to be played!" He proclaimed proudly as he set the open box down on the floor in front of the tv.

All three of them jumped up to see what was in it.

"What is that!?" Jamie asked concerned.

"That, my friend, is _old school_!" Bennett said appreciatively as he pulled out the Nintendo 64 console and set it carefully on the carpet. "No way, Quil! I've never even played one before!" He said excitedly as he started pulling out controllers and unwrapping the long cords that had to be connected to the console for them to work.

"I've never even seen one before…." Claire said like she was doubtful it was real or something.

Quil seemed to make a noise in the back of his throat somewhere between a choke and a gag.

"What? What's wrong?" Claire asked him as he looked at her.

"Nothing... It's just the first time that it's really hit me that you might be too young for me." He explained to her as Bennett started laughing.

She just rolled her eyes in response and smiled as she grabbed a controller and said, "Come on, show us how it works, Quil!"

The next two hours actually ending up being the most hardcore fun Bennett had had in weeks. Quil suddenly was by far the best player and indeed kicking everybody's trash the second he had turned the console on and shown them how to work the controllers to choose their players after briefly hooking it up to the tv with the white, yellow, and red chords that Bennett didn't even think they made anymore.

They were sitting in a line crossed legged on the floor five feet in front of the tv since the chords of the controllers wouldn't reach the couch. Jamie had given up after fifteen minutes with a simple, "I just don't get it…" and was building a Lego Star Wars figurine in the corner.

"The response time is terrible…" Bennett noted while Luigi seemed to refuse to drift a corner of the track.

Claire giggled and said, "The graphics are my favorite!"

"No appreciation…" Quil mused feigning annoyance. He was lapping Bennett for the second time as he zipped Kirby around the track like a professional. "Guys, this is as classic as it gets! Embry, Jake, and I used to chug Mountain Dew and have all night tournaments with this game!"

"You're kidding!" Claire laughed.

"No! Anytime school was out they'd come to my house and this is what we'd do for hours on end! My sister hated it!" Quil said truthfully with his own laugh.

"It is freakishly addictive." Bennett conceded. "It's way more satisfying when you win in this version…"

"Yup. I know!" Quil said confidently as Kirby crossed the finish line and balloons rained down on his corner of the screen. "That is until we discovered girls and then Mario-Kart felt a lot less satisfying…"

"Okay! I don't need to hear all about all of the girls you 'discovered'!" Claire immediately objected as she smacked her shoulder against him while she bit her lip in concentration when Yoshi ran off the track before coming back on going in the wrong direction. "What the heck!? This is so frustrating!" She demanded.

Quil laughed at her reaction before responding. "Look who's talking."

They both looked at him to see what he was referring to. He had a teasing look on his face as he gestured meaningfully between Claire sitting in the middle between them and Bennett on the other end.

"I thought our relationship was so chill about people we've 'discovered'!" He laughed.

Bennett took the opportunity to reach across Claire lightning fast and return the sucker punch to the chest that Quil had snuck in earlier.

"I got it, Claire." He assured after he pulled back with a satisfying smirk on his face. He didn't care if Quil didn't act fazed, he knew it _had_ to have hurt.

"He's just being cocky because he thinks we spent all our time together playing Mario-Kart or something instead of 'discovering' each other." Claire responded.

"Whoa! Okay…" Quil started to object just as Bennett said suggestively, "Doesn't he know we spent _all_ of our free time 'discovering'?"

They both laughed at the look on Quil's face as Bennett leaned over and quickly kissed Claire's cheek to antagonize him.

"Alright. Alright." Quil said good-naturedly, clearly wanting the conversation to end.

"We're just teasing you, hon!" Claire assured as she put her hand reassuringly on his leg next to hers.

Quil quickly grabbed her waist and yanked her down across his lap tickling her again while saying, "There's some 'discovering' _I'd_ like to do with you…"

" _And_ …. That's my cue!" Bennett said, checking his phone as Claire started blushing. He already had a missed call from Macy he hadn't noticed and a text that just said,

 **Please call me.**

Claire slapped softly at Quil again and sat up saying, "No, Bennett! You don't have to go! Stay and hang out, it's pizza night and we haven't gotten to our ping pong tournament!"

"That's okay, Claire. I promised my mom I'd be home for dinner, thanks though!" He assured her as he stood up and threw his controller in the box Quil had brought.

"Okay. But let me know if you need anything!" She said concerned as she stood up and grabbed him into another tight hug.

"Alright, Mom, I will, I promise!" He told her jokingly as he returned her thoughtful embrace and then pulled back. "I'll see you in first period."

"Try not to get us kicked out this time!" She laughed.

"No promises!" He teased before calling bye to Jamie.

"See you." He said vaguely without looking up from his Lego Tam Tam.

"Alrighty then!" Bennett laughed while walking toward the door. He was surprised when Quil suddenly clapped his back and then said,

"Come on… I'll walk you out."

Bennett immediately felt nervous and looked to Claire who looked just as confused as he felt and gave him an _I dunno_ shrug.

As soon as Quil closed the door behind them Bennett couldn't seem to stop himself from jumping the gun and saying reasonably, "Look, man, I was just joking around. I never touched Claire when we were dating…"

Quil looked at him in surprised humor before saying,

"What!? No, I don't care about that! The night Claire came back into my life she caught me almost 'discovering' Leah… What kind of a hypocrite would I be to hold something you two did when you were together, against either of you?"

"You hooked up with Leah!?" Bennett asked in shock disbelief. It was all he had really managed to get out of what Quil had said.

"Almost." Quil admitted with a shrug. "Which brings me to why I wanted to talk to you."

He leaned casually against the side of Bennett's car and Bennett followed his lead and leaned back as he simply said, "'Kay…" and waited for Quil to continue.

"You know those four months when you were dating Claire….?"

"… Yeah…." Bennett answered confused with where the conversation was going.

"You know how Claire and I didn't have any contact…?" Quil continued in a musing tone.

"Sure." Bennett responded remembering when Quil had told him that the first time he had come to his apartment.

"Well…. That _sucked_ , man….. enough that I almost hooked up with Leah..." he said with an emphasis like that proved how awful it must have been.

Bennett just nodded confused.

"So, what I'm saying is that being without your imprint _sucks_ but that doesn't mean it wasn't the right thing at the time." Quil said finally getting to the point.

Bennett swallowed the lump in his throat, not liking the way Quil's situation suddenly applied to him.

"So, you're saying it was worth it?" Bennett asked him sincerely.

Quil hesitated for a moment before saying, "Yeah. It was. As much as it sucked -and it sucked like a bitch- she needed some space; once she got it things just kind of came together for us…."

"You think Macy just needs space?" Bennett questioned a little doubtfully.

"No, man. Macy is me." Quil replied quickly.

"What?" Bennett asked completely confused.

"In this scenario Macy is _ME,_ you're Claire. You need space. Macy needs time to grow up and accept things." Quil answered confidently.

Bennett sat for a second processing. He wasn't sure if he felt pissed or optimistic at the comparison.

"Look, I'm just saying I think it's the _right_ thing for you to take some time away from her right now. It might not feel like it but in the long run you'll be grateful you did." Quil said reassuringly.

"Thanks man." Bennett replied, feeling a little better in spite of everything.

"Yup." Quil said with another clap on his back. "Hang in there."

"Will do." He replied. "Hey, you want to work out tomorrow?" He asked quickly thinking it'd probably be better if he had a full schedule.

"Maybe..." Quil replied noncommittally. "I'll check Claire's schedule first and let you know if I'm free."

"Wat-choo!" Bennett said making the sound of a whip cracking as he flicked his wrist and walked around to the driver's side of his car.

"Always!" Quil laughed as he backed toward the house before turning and jogging back in through the front door.

Bennett quickly started his car before looking back at the missed call and text from Macy.

 **Please call me.**

He thought about what Quil just said for a second and then cleared his screen of the notifications before he put his car in drive and drove home to enjoy a quiet dinner with his family.


	15. Chapter 14

***Author's Note***

 **EEEE! I'm so excited to put out this new chapter but even more excited because at then end of the chapter I have some big news that I have been so excited to announce! Sooo, enjoy this super long extra hunk of a chapter and then stay tuned for my big announcement!**

* * *

CHAPTER 14

 **Quil:**

Quil woke up Saturday morning to the sound of his phone ringing. He was feeling more disoriented and confused than usual as he grabbed his phone and quickly slid his finger down the screen without ever fully opening his eyes. Excited despite being exhausted to hear the most beautiful voice on the planet.

"Hey, babe." He answered groggily into his phone.

"Quil?" answered not-Claire's voice in response.

He quickly realized he hadn't actually looked at the phone before he answered and that he had been dreaming of Claire which is why he had assumed it was her.

"Mom?" Quil asked while slapping a hand to drag across his face and peeking at the clock on his nightstand that said 9:17.

"Who were you expecting? Are you finally dating someone!?" his mom immediately asked.

"What? No, Mom. You just woke me up and I was confused. What's up?" He asked hoping she'd get to the point quickly and wishing he had thought to look before he had answered. He could have just silenced his phone and gone back to sleep instead of now having to endure what would probably be a forty minute conversation with his mother….. which would probably center around grilling him now.

"Who are you dating? Is she pretty!? Oh, please tell me she'll give me beautiful grandbabies!" his mom started.

"You already have grandbabies!" Quil replied, already feeling grumpy and exasperated.

"Yeah but Hannah and those beautiful babies are so far away!" she whined in response referring to his sister and her family who lived outside of Atlanta. "Speaking of Hannah, have you spoken to her recently?"

"Um…. Not since my birthday, I guess." Quil answered even knowing that "speaking" to his sister had consisted of a birthday text that he hadn't even replied to.

"Well get ready because….." she began excitedly. "She's pregnant again!"

She said it like it was the happiest news conceivably possible.

"Wow. Pregnant with number three…. That's ambitious…." Quil answered slightly less than enthusiastically.

"I know!" His mom squealed clearly not actually listening to his response. "So, we need to buy tickets immediately because she's due in August."

"Tickets for what?" he asked in confusion.

"To fly to Georgia for the birth." His mom answered like it was obvious and that Quil had just asked the stupidest question imaginable.

"What?" Quil laughed before saying skeptically. "What would I do in Georgia while Hannah gives birth? Hold her hand in the delivery room? Yeah, you can add that to the very top of my _hell no_ list."

"Of course, you won't be in the delivery room!" His mom snapped lasting a total of twelve seconds before whipping out the scorn she always kept plenty of handy in her back pocket for him. "But you can see the baby and spend time with your niece and nephew so that Hannah can get some rest!"

"And what will Brad be doing while I'm spending time with my niece and nephew so that Hannah can rest?" Quil asked unfazed.

"Well, Hannah says it's supposed to be a really busy time at work for Brad …." His mom admitted of his sister's workaholic husband.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. And the nanny can't spend time with the kids because?"

"Because she's not family. Hannah needs family around her, so you need to be her brother and get your ass over there!" She snapped in response.

"Mom, I'm not buying a ticket to Georgia. I not even sure what I'll be doing in August. I have a life here, I can't just skip out on it because Hannah wants to accessorize her life with _another_ kid she doesn't have time for. I can just see the kids at Christmas ... She said she was coming this year, didn't she?" Quil reasoned, purposefully omitting that fact that he already had Christmas plans with Claire half a world away and ignoring the tiny pang of guilt that he didn't have plans to spend more with his adorable niece and nephew like he should.

"What life!? You don't have a wife… kids… you don't have a boss that'll be upset if you leave! And it's already sounding like Hannah is hesitant to travel at Christmas with three kids, so I'll be going there this year."

Quil wasn't surprised in the least by the change in plans for Christmas. It was exactly what he had expected. When push came to shove his mom was always going to bend over backwards to accommodate Hannah regardless of Quil's personal need at the time. Not that he had any current need it was just the underlying assumption that Hannah mattered more. He blew out an annoyed breath at the constant attitude from his mom and sister that he had nothing meaningful in his life that he couldn't just drop to make them his number one priority. He wasn't going to argue with her though, that'd just be a waste of his time and energy regardless of the fact that if he did clear his schedule to fly to Atlanta instead of being grateful Hannah would probably just act annoyed and like he was in the way.

"I don't know, Mom, I'll see when it gets closer but I'm not going to buy a ticket right now." He sighed out a breath while refusing to make a commitment.

"Fine. We'll talk about it later. But I don't understand how you can be so cavalier about your family… It's not the way I raised you…. What can you possibly have going on that you can't be present for the birth of your only sister's child?" his mom started on one of her usual manipulative guilt trips, it was the reason he hated talking to her so much.

"Mom! I have my own stuff going on! I have a business and Claire here. Not to mention the pack that I'm in charge of, remember? Just because I don't have a wife and six Christmas card kids doesn't mean my life is void of responsibility."

He didn't know why he was letting himself engage with her instead of ignoring her since that was always the most effective way for him to deal with her.

She sighed dramatically before saying, "I guess you do have Claire… But she's certainly old enough now to manage a week or two without you… I thought Jake was in charge of the pack? Is this about your obvious mystery girlfriend? You can always bring her you know! We'd love to actually see you with someone for once!"

"Mom! Do I ask you questions about your dating life!? No! So, stay out of mine! Jake has lived in France for over five years and I've been running the pack for the last ten, so I don't know what to tell you." Quil snapped wishing more than ever that he hadn't answered the phone.

He couldn't understand why he was letting his mother bother him so much. She had been nagging him about dating for years but he had always brushed her off. Now that he was actually dating Claire he was suddenly feeling incredibly defensive and protective of her and his mother asking nagging questions, assuming he was dating someone else was really getting under his skin.

"Well, sorry! How was I supposed to know since you make no effort to spend time with me or include me in your life!?" she responded, unfazed by his annoyance like usual.

"Was there anything else you needed, Mom, or just the news about Hannah?" Quil asked, ready to get off the phone and back to his Saturday as quickly as possible.

"Yes! I'm turning your room into a She-Shed and I need you to box your stuff up and clean it out of there."

Quil groaned softly while pointing the phone away from his face even though he knew that his mother hearing it wouldn't faze her at all. He was already sensing a long and difficult project that would ultimately end up being pointless since he was the only one who ever enjoyed spending time in the room above the detached garage since it wasn't heated, and his high body temperature was the only one unaffected by the cold environment.

"Yeah, so what time can you come?" she answered completely oblivious to his reaction.

"Today!?" he asked in shock.

"Yes, Quil! You haven't lived here in almost a decade, I'd like my space back!" she insisted.

He groaned loudly again in response, this time doing nothing to hide it.

Quil had been looking forward to finally spending some time with Claire this weekend. She had seemed more and more discouraged each day after school but would always cheer up quickly, seeming to leave the day behind her as soon as she was with him again. The only problem was that since Bennett's breakup with Macy, Claire's maternal heart couldn't seem to stomach the thought of Bennett spending time alone and in pain without his imprint, so she insisted that they include him in any of their afternoon activities despite Quil's objections that alone time would just toughen him up and make him a better wolf in the long run.

Quil almost smiled at the memory of her dragging Bennett along with them to her appointment on Thursday when she had finally gotten her cast off, saying that he had begun the adventure with her that had started with their car accident and it only made sense that he finish it with her as well.

When Claire had asked what their story should be on the drive to the hospital Quil had blatantly refused to pretend to be family this time around, saying, "Claire, I'm your boyfriend now. If you want an uncle to take you then ask Sam to come along, but I'm not interested in filling that role in your life ever again."

It had been worth it to bring Bennett just to see the look on Greg the nurse's face when Claire walked through the door with Quil's hand securely around intertwined with hers and Bennett a full three inches taller and with fifty more pounds of solidly defined muscle than he'd had the last time he was there, on Claire's other side. Quil had seen Greg's shocked and almost indignant expression the second they made it into the lobby. He quickly looked over Claire's head to make eye contact with Bennett and then gestured with his head towards Greg behind the nurses' station. Bennett immediately started laughing as he caught Greg's eye who seemed to grab a clipboard at random before turning around and disappearing quickly down a hallway.

"What?" Claire asked the two of them snickering on either side of her.

"Well, that didn't take long…" Bennett responded speaking to Quil.

"I was actually hoping to have more of a chance to toy with him." Quil answered disappointed as Claire looked over in time to see the tail end of Greg disappearing and realized what they were laughing about.

She made a small scoffing noise in the back of her throat before she pulled her hand out of his and used it to adjust the purse strap on her shoulder. When he felt her pull her hand away, Quil looked back down at her to discover the slightly hurt and frustrated look she was giving him before she turned away and walked up to check-in while leaving the two of them behind her.

"Claire…" He called reasonably after her, not enjoying the way he had obviously upset her.

"What?" Bennett asked clearly confused that she seemed upset.

"She thinks he's her friend. That he wasn't making a pass at her the whole time…." Quil explained a little skeptically as they sat down and waited for her.

She was waiting for the receptionist at the desk to look up her information and verify her insurance, but it was taking a while for her to get the computer to work and Claire was just standing at the desk waiting patiently as she stared at her fingers splayed across its top instead of turning around to look at him. She was shutting him out, clearly not wanting to engage with him by making eye contact.

"She's way too willing to see the best in everyone. If he isn't interested in her as anything other than a patient than you can have one of my kidneys!" Bennett responded quickly, seeming unconcerned about it even as Quil started to worry that Claire was more upset than he had imagined she would be over Greg.

"I'll keep that in mind… How good are your kidneys?" he replied without looking away from Claire's back, hoping she'd turn around to finally look at him.

"Why? You need one?" Bennett answered immediately.

"You never know…. She seems pretty pissed…. She wasn't too happy with the way I reacted to him last time and we weren't dating then…. She might tear me a new one this time and who knows what sort of vital organs I'll need after that." He responded, and Bennett looked over to evaluate her reaction for the first time and clearly noticed her tense posture and her refusal to acknowledge them.

"Ooh… Yeah, glad I'm not the boyfriend for this one…"

Quil quickly reached over the buffer seat between them and sucker punched his shoulder in response.

Claire stayed at the desk waiting to be called up for her appointment for another ten minutes without ever looking back. Finally, a female nurse in her mid-twenties came down the same hall Greg had disappeared down and called her name. Claire walked off to follow her without even a glance in Bennett and Quil's direction.

They quickly made alarmed eye contact with each other in response to Claire's reaction and then jumped up to catch up to her where she was chatting happily with the nurse as if nothing was wrong. She had shoved her left hand in the pocket of her jeans and her right thumb that was sticking out of her cast was hooked under the strap of her purse over her shoulder, subtly refusing to give Quil an opening to hold her hand. She didn't look at either of them as they reached her, still moving farther into the hospital. Quil softly put his hand on her lower back and noticed her stiffen ever so slightly in response to his touch.

"Who's this?" the nurse asked Claire in surprise at the two large men that had chased her down the hall.

"These are my older brothers. They're twins _and_ both single… Are you available?" Claire immediately answered in a friendly tone before either of them could reply.

"Ouch…" Bennett muttered in response, looking over at her as Quil said,

"Claire…" in a tone that suggested his distaste for her obvious punishment.

The nurse blushed a little before seeming to evaluate both he and Bennett and then saying, "I'm never too busy to get a coffee."

"Yeah? So, how long have you worked here?" Bennett replied quickly before it could get too awkward.

He stepped ahead of them to walk beside her as he listened to her chat eagerly about herself and subtly giving Quil the opportunity to pull Claire back a few steps and say,

"Claire, hey, I'm sorry, alright?" he couldn't stop himself from smiling and saying, "Could you please stop trying to set me up with other women?" she stopped walking to face him with a serious look on her face as she said casually,

"Why not? Since I'll probably end up going home with Greg anyways, because that's clearly all he wants, right? So hilarious."

Claire turned to continue to follow behind Bennett and the nurse who couldn't know that she was easily ten years older than him and seeming eager to engage with him, before Quil could say anything and he had to take a large step forward to grab her again as he said,

"Whoa! Hold up there! Look, we clearly upset you and I'm very sorry, okay? Obviously, neither Bennett or I think it's a joke that another guy is attracted to you since it's both something we've had to deal with when dating you. That's the joke, that you're way too pretty to hold on to without a fight… Not that somebody else could never want to be with you…. That's ridiculous… But I'm sorry we made fun of Greg, alright? We won't do it anymore, I promise. Okay?"

Claire looked undecided for a moment as she chewed on her bottom lip before saying hesitantly. "Okay, I guess I can forgive you if you promise to drop it… After this week at school I just can't handle anymore jokes about how easy I am… I mean I told the man you were my uncle, Quil. I can't even imagine what he thinks about seeing me with you now."

"Claire, I would never joke about something like that! In fact, who is!? I need to know so I can kick their ass!" Quil immediately assured her emphatically as he felt the heat rise inside of him at the thought before adding in a much less concerned tone, "And he definitely never bought into the uncle story, so you don't need to worry about that."

He quickly pulled her tightly into his chest and kissed the top of her head as he scrunched her hair up at the crown where he held tightly to the back of her head. Claire shrugged lightly against him as her only response as she leaned her head in against his chest.

"Who's calling you easy at school, Claire?" Quil asked her softly as he continued to hold onto her.

She finally said in a whisper so that only he would hear,

"Macy, mostly…. Or at least that's what it seems like at least."

Quil felt his shoulders tighten with tension in response as she casually pulled back to continue after the nurse who didn't even seemed to have noticed they had fallen behind while she obviously attempted to flirt with Bennett.

Two hours later they were walking out with Claire enjoying two free arms and Bennett tossing the scrap of paper with the nurse's number on it in the garbage on the way out. The doctor was so pleased with Claire's recovery progress, her arm strength, and X-rays that she had written her off as healed without the need for physical therapy like they had originally planned.

"Claire!" they heard a male voice call excitedly behind them as the three of them made their way back to the lobby.

Quil blew out a breath in annoyance before turning to Claire and saying, "We'll be waiting in the car, Babe."

He didn't bother to turn to see Greg moving to catch up to them. He could hear his approaching footsteps anyways and knew how close he was. Claire smiled appreciatively at Quil and squeezed his hand in response before turning around to greet the nurse.

Bennett had stopped walking when Claire had and was turned around watching the interaction with his arms folded across his chest. Quil had to grab his arm and give him a little yank to get him to follow him out to the lobby and then to the parking lot while they could clearly hear Claire eagerly joking and talking with Greg about having her arm free of her cast.

"You're really just going to let him swoop in like that?" Bennett asked skeptically as they walked out the glass doors of the hospital.

"Do you really think she's interested in his obvious play?" Quil said securely in response, "Or is she more interested in the guy smart enough to give her space and trust her? You were micromanaged for six weeks, how into Macy were you by the end of it?"

Bennett pushed his lips together as he considered Quil's words and then raised his eyebrows and nodded like he was conceding to his point.

Claire came running out with a happy smile on her face just as Bennett was sliding the passenger seat back after settling into the back of the Camaro.

"… Less than two minutes…" Quil pointed out.

Bennett seemed impressed as Claire slid into the car just as Quil started it. It was silent for a moment as Quil pulled out and then Bennett said pointedly,

"So, how was Greg?"

Quil reached into the back seat to shove at Bennett's face as Claire answered,

"Greg's good! He's actually dating someone and wants to go on a double date…"

"A double-date with you and your boyfriend, or you and your uncle?" Quil asked, confused and concerned as he gestured with his thumb first to reference Bennett in the backseat and then toward himself.

Bennett started cracking up so hard in response that Quil and Claire had ended up laughing at the entire situation along with him.

They had wound up at a CrossFit gym in Treeport that Bennett had wanted to check out. He had clearly enjoyed using his wolf skills to show up all of the diehard cross fitters while Quil had followed Claire back to the open matted floor in the back of the gym.

He just watched her as she tested her arm while practicing her cheer stunts for the first time in eight weeks. Quil couldn't seem to help but notice the graceful lines of her body as she started off slow, doing a few cartwheels and roundoffs before trying for the more difficult stunts. She had taken off her button-up shirt so that she would have more freedom to move as she flipped in her jeans and tank top. It took her less than fifteen minutes before she nailed her roundoff back handspring on the first attempt. She blew out a breath of relief and put her hands to her chest after she stuck the landing.

"Nice, Claire! You look better now than you did at your last competition." Bennett called excitedly from where he was still doing pull ups in reverse just to piss off the guy across the gym that looked like his main diet consisted of protein shakes. He'd been doing them consistently for the last five minutes.

Claire bit her lip doubtfully before turning to look questioningly at Quil.

"It looked good!" He assured her confidently, loving that she trusted his opinion more than Bennett's even though he had seen every one of her competitions that year and the last time Quil had even seen her compete had been the night he had tried to hold her hand after seeing her flirt with Bennett for the first time.

She looked relieved and smiled hugely up at him in a way that made his heart pound and his mind wonder if she would always have that strong of an impact on him. He couldn't imagine ever getting over her smile.

Quil smiled at the thought and then shook his head and ran a hand through his hair to shake off the memories from the past week as he brought his mind back to the conversation with his mother.

"Uh… yeah. I guess I'll see if Claire wants to come with me and I'll come by around noon." He responded finally in answer to her request.

"Okay, good. I'll see you then." She answered and then hung up before he had the chance to reply.

Quil groaned out loud for the third time as he thought again about how he should have just opened his eyes enough to see who was calling. He shook his head at his own stupidity before he scrolled through his phone and hit call on his only favorite contact. It rang six times and then was picked up by Claire's voicemail. He hung up without leaving a message, he was surprised that she hadn't answered but decided to get up and shower before he'd head over to her place.

Less than twenty-five minutes later he was pulling up behind the Jetta in front of her house. He thought about how happy he was it was the weekend and he could spend some real time with her. He had only seen her for about twenty minutes the day before since Bennett had decided that since he had just broken up with Macy, it was the perfect weekend to visit his dad. So Quil had had to drive him to the airport in Seattle since his mom had other plans already and he didn't want to leave his car there over the weekend. Claire had stayed home to spend time with her family and when he had gotten home five hours later he only had enough time to kiss her goodnight before running off to do patrol with Collin who he still didn't trust to run alone.

He walked through the front door to find an empty, quiet house which was more than a little surprising to him since it was after ten AM on a Saturday morning and he expected the house to be full.

"Hello?" he called out in surprise as he walked into the empty house.

"Claire?" he called when no one answered before he moved to run up the stairs.

He figured if she had gone anywhere she would have told him first. She usually kept up with him like that and her car was still out front.

"Quil?" he heard her call back in response as he reached the top of the stairs.

He pushed opened the partially closed door to her room only to find her bed unmade and empty… he could see the small nest she had slept cuddled up in the night before, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Claire?" he asked confused.

"In here!" she called from the bathroom.

He walked through to the Jack-and-Jill bathroom that connected her room to Rachel's. He expected her to be brushing her teeth or doing her hair at the sink, but it was empty too. At least the light was already on though, so he knew she had been there. He looked over to the closed door to the shower and toilet closet. The shower wasn't running but he could smell the sweet strawberry kiwi smell of her shampoo mixed with what smelled like some floral smelling bath products.

"Claire?" he asked as he put his hand on the doorknob but didn't dare to twist it.

"Yeah, in here!" she said from the other side of the door.

He twisted it and let the door fall open to find her shoulder deep in a bath with the ends of her wet hair dripping off the side of the tub. His entire body heated and became tense in response even though he couldn't actually see anything, there were so many bubbles in the milky looking water they were spilling out onto the floor and soaking the mat there. The water was even tinted slightly pinkish-purple and it looked like there were dried flower petals of some sort floating in the water.

"Hey! You found me!" she said with a smile. "What's going on?" She asked sounding more concerned.

He just stood there speechless. He logically knew that he could only see the tops of her knees popping out of the water along with her shoulder tops, and yet he couldn't seem to stop himself from reacting to the fact that she was naked, feet in front of him. His body was tensed with an anticipation it hadn't felt in over a decade.

An anticipation he knew was misplaced as he forced himself to take a breath for the first time since opening the door. He blew it back out as he made his eyes move to the ceiling, so he could collect his now shattered thoughts again.

He didn't remember giving his feet permission to move but he somehow stepped into the bathroom. When he felt the click of the door shut behind him with his hand against it, the logical part of his brain screamed at him _What are you doing?_ from what felt like the end of a long tunnel. He took another breath as he slid his back down the door to sit on the floor and collect himself, _or barre it from opening…._ suggested the more aggressive part of his brain.

"Quil? What's wrong?" Claire's voice broke through the chaos in his brain and his eyes snapped back to her in the tub. Without thinking he immediately leaned forward and placed his hand on her wet knee.

"Nothing… You just caught me off guard _again_ … What are you doing in the tub?" He asked, somewhat noticing that his voice sounded about a full register lower than normal.

She bit her lip guiltily before saying, "Sorry… I thought something was wrong when I heard you calling my name…. I figured you couldn't see anything, so…."

"It's okay, I'm not complaining…" he teased her with a wink and then laughed when she blushed a little before sinking deeper into the tub so that her knees came up higher as her chin dipped into foamy water.

"So, why the bath? Just enjoying not having a cast anymore?" He asked as he dipped his arm into the hot water, which turned out to be a mistake because it immediately made his libido skyrocket and found her hand next to her on the bottom of the tub before he twisted his fingers between hers under the bubbles.

"No. I ran four miles with Butch last night… I could barely get out of bed this morning." She answered, finishing a little darkly while it seemed like all her muscles tensed and then released in the water.

Quil was almost overcome with his desire to reach out and touch more of her sore body that was just out of sight. He squeezed her hand instead in response.

"Ouch." She complained good-naturedly as she pulled her fingers out of his that he had just squeezed, now leaving him with nothing to hold onto.

"Sorry!" He quickly apologized as he thought about just pulling his arm out of the water, instead it seemed like his hand had a mind of its own as it moved slowly but steadily until the knuckle of his index finger brushed the side of her left thigh, rubbing the muscle soothingly up and down in a slow steady rhythm as he asked, "Why did you do so much? That's more than _I_ usually take Butch to do."

He noticed how his voice sounded even more rough than it had moments ago and that her skin developed goosebumps wherever he touched it. He was trying not to focus on it as she shrugged her shoulders making him hold his breath and his heart pound even harder when his eyes dipped down her chest to the waterline at her wet collarbone when her shoulders pulled up before sinking back out of sight. He immediately snapped his eyes back to her face while silently chastising himself.

"I need to get back in shape so that I can reclaim my spot from Macy for next year's squad. She is not going to give it up easily and I have a feeling she isn't going to play nice if we both have to work together on the team."

It took Quil a solid few seconds to bring his mind back to the conversation and figure out what she was talking about so that he could focus on what she was saying. He couldn't think past his knuckle still brushing her thigh in the water…. He couldn't make himself stop touching her either. He noticed that his trail up and down the side of her leg seemed to be subtly growing from a six-inch path in the middle of her thigh to the spot where the water stopped, not quite at her knee, and then all the way down to her hip. If he kept going it would turn from the side of her thigh to the side of her ass and yet he couldn't pull back when the thought just made his heart pound even harder until he could hear it ringing in his ears.

"Quil?" She asked him, obviously concerned when he didn't respond. She found his hand on her leg and interlaced her fingers through his while trying to hold his attention.

"Sorry." He said shaking his head slightly as he came back to focus on her.

"What's wrong?" She asked as she twirled her thumb around his under the water.

He opened his mouth and was about to say 'nothing' when he looked in her eyes and knew he couldn't lie to her. His breath came out in whoosh and he simply answered, "…..You're naked."

Her eyes widened a bit before he noticed them darken as her pupils dilated slightly while she squeezed his hand nervously like she was trying to keep him from touching her again while she held her breath.

"…That was honest." she admitted a moment later and making him laugh in response.

"You want me to go?" He asked her sincerely while he started rubbing her thigh again, taking her hand along with his.

She closed her eyes and relaxed deeper into the tub in response to his touch. "Maybe," she admitted with a small shrug before saying, "But that feels really nice." which did nothing to help lessen the rush he was feeling or the pounding in his ears.

"I should go." He finally admitted, regretfully coming to terms with the fact that he had no control anymore, while his hand still traced her leg to the point of her hip before starting it's slow climb back up toward her knee.

She squeezed his hand in hers against her leg. "Were you going to tell me something when you came in?"

"Oh!" he said remembering that there was a time and place that existed before this moment with her in the bath. "Yeah, I wanted to see if you wanted to come to La Push with me…. We can grab some breakfast and then I promised my mom I'd clean out my room above the garage this afternoon."

She smiled at the suggestion and then said, "I'd love to go to La Push with you! I don't know how much help I'll be hauling boxes around today though, I'm starving but I was way too sore to even go downstairs and get any food, so... Where did you want to get breakfast?"

He smiled at how cute it was that she thought she could normally help with the manual labor part. "I got all the heavy-lifting, promise." He told her as his hand moved hers to just an inch past her hip before moving back up again. "Chubbie's sound's good…"

"Chubbie's?" She said with distain, "Tina works there, remember?"

"Oh, trust me, Babe, I'm _really_ not thinking about Tina right now…." He told her suggestively as his hand trailed even farther past her hip and definitely started encroaching in side of her ass territory. He noticed his voice had gone back to sounding rough and maybe even a little wolfish.

Her eyes widened again, and she sounded a little panicked when she said, "Yeah, you should really go!"

He nodded his head and tried to clear his throat as his hand started to make its way back down her leg again from the top of her thigh.

"Claire?" He said a little clearer.

"Yeah?" She asked softly, sounding nervous.

"Can you lift my hand out…? I don't think I can." He admitted regretfully.

She smiled in relief and gave his hand a squeeze as she pulled it away from her leg and over the edge of the tub, dripping water in the process.

He couldn't decide if he was more relieved or disappointed when he was finally free of the too hot water incasing her skin. He sighed in response before he pulled their still interlocking hands to his mouth and kissed hers, ignoring the dripping water.

"Alright, Love. I'll be waiting." He let go of her finally and stood up even as his eyes zeroed in on the small top inch of her wet cleavage that had been exposed when he had pulled her forward to kiss her hand.

He shook his head in a vain attempt to clear it since his immediate instinct was to reach for his own t-shirt and strip it off over his head. His hands were even grabbing the bottom of his shirt, leaving a wet spot where his left hand gripped tightly. He forced his hands to release it as he turned and reached for the doorknob again.

His hands were shaking, and he was fighting against the image of himself stripping his own clothes off before getting in the tub with her to discover what exactly was hiding underneath that milky water. He yanked the door open and stepped out, closing it tightly behind him.

He was shaking with unmet anticipation while he leaned against the closed door behind him before he left the bathroom to wait in her room, hoping that the more space he got from her, the more control he would gain… yet he couldn't force himself to move farther away from her than in her room directly outside her bathroom.

He started pacing her room with anxious energy and tried to shake out his arms as he moved his head around to try to stretch his neck and shoulders. He could hear water sloshing around in the tub as she moved forwards and pulled the drain. He couldn't stop shaking and he couldn't seem to gain control again. What was more, he didn't really want to. He hadn't been with anyone in well over a dozen years and yet he had _never_ felt such a strong rush as the high he seemed to have gotten from touching her skin in the bath.

He kept up his steady pacing while his hands seemed to shake harder than ever as he replayed the feeling of her wet skin against his knuckles in his mind. He would have thought he was about to phase except that the control he was losing wasn't emotional.

He raked a hand through his hair before he crouched down in on himself in the middle of the floor, forcing himself to take deep breaths.

He stood up a few moments later, feeling like he had managed to find a small semblance of control. He turned when he heard Claire walk out of the bathroom. His hands immediately started shaking again in response and he groaned loudly in the exact same way he had with his mother on the phone.

"What?" She asked in concerned confusion.

She was wearing a pair of thin gray sweat pants that came mid-calf. They were tied loosely around her waist with a drawstring. Too loosely… It immediately brought to his mind how easily they would strip off of her to reveal whatever was underneath…. and he _really_ wanted to find out what was underneath. The sweats were nothing to the fact that she was wearing the same lacy navy-blue bra she had worn that day he had completely lost his shit when she had flashed it at him while changing out of her wet shirt.

He only knew that she was wearing that bra because he could see it clearly through the same sheer white shirt with the rips in it she had worn that day to school and been RPCed. Her wet hair was hanging down around her back and shoulders making the shirt practically translucent everywhere it touched it.

Quil simply gestured at her outfit and said, "You!" as an explanation. His hands were visibly shaking now from the effort it took to restrain himself to simply stay where he was instead of crossing to her and tearing the already ripped shirt to shreds.

"Sorry…. I didn't realize you were coming… They were the only clothes I had in the bathroom." She admitted as she grabbed a zip front hoodie out of the closet and threw it on before she zipped it high enough that he could no longer see her bra through it.

She quickly yanked her hair out from under it before she cautiously approached him still standing in the middle of the room.

"Better?" She asked him a little nervously.

He just shook his head. He didn't want to admit it, but he was afraid to speak. If he was going to be honest with her, the only thing he thought that would help would be to see her in less clothing….. a lot less clothing.

She cautiously closed the gap and placed her hands on the sides of his face. "Tell me what's wrong." She said securely, looking intensely into his eyes.

He took a deep breath and then let it out all at once before saying,

"It's just… you've got me _so_ worked up and…. it's been a _long_ time since I've had any sort of sex drive, and back when I did I was never really trying to fight it…. and with you…." (he whistled between his teeth) "…well it would never have been as difficult to control my attraction to anyone else because… because no one else was you. I never wanted anyone the way I want you."

She was still maintaining his eye contact and holding his face in her hands, but she was definitely looking nervous now and he suspected it had something to do with the fact that he had just thrown words out that were more than a little loaded…. Words like _attraction_ , and _sex-drive_ , and _want_.

He could see her swallow and felt her fingers start to shake a little before she used them to comb through his hair line while she blew out a shaky breath like she was bracing herself. He suddenly got nervous she was going to do something for his sake, to try to keep him happy. He immediately grabbed the wrist on her right arm (enjoying the feeling of being able to hold it uncasted for once) and pulled her hand down to kiss her palm before he said,

"Come on! Let's get out of here. It's time for breakfast."

She seemed surprised and flustered for a second before saying, "…I have to get ready…"

"No you don't. Grab your shoes. You can put them on in the car. Come on, let's go!" He said eagerly even while leaning forward to wrap his arms around her waist in what was basically a direct contradiction to them leaving.

"…But.." she started to say.

He didn't give her time to think of her reply before saying fairly desperately,

"Claire, please don't fight me on this one! Let's just go. Right now."

He knew he couldn't handle being left alone in the house with her for much longer. She seemed to sense it too because she nodded and said hesitantly, "Alright."

"Great!" He said eagerly. He hadn't even trusted himself to kiss her yet. He didn't trust himself to now. If he started to kiss her he wouldn't stop, and they definitely wouldn't leave.

"Let's go!" He said enthusiastically as he dropped his hold around her before grabbing her hand and dragging her to the door.

"Wait! Shoes!" She said as she dropped his hand and grabbed a pair of her socks from her dresser before grabbing her phone sitting on top of it and shoving it in her hoodie pocket at the same time Quil grabbed her Converses by the door, "Got 'em! Let's go!"

She quickly grabbed his hand again and then followed him all the way out of the house barefoot. He didn't stop until he reached the passenger side of his car. He yanked opened the door for her and then handed her her shoes once she slid in. He ran (literally ran, he was too worked up to even walk) to the driver's side and then started the car and pulled out all within the space of about five seconds.

He took a few deep breaths and then finally started to feel himself calming down with the car moving. Claire had both shoes on her feet by the time he turned to her and asked,

"Where was all your family at?"

"Um… I think Rachel ran off with Trav early this morning…. My dad took Jamie to breakfast and then a movie he had promised him to see… and my mom…. My mom decided she had work to catch up on today…" Quil could tell she didn't want to talk about why her mom was apparently working even though it was clearly upsetting to her. She paused for a moment and then continued on as if nothing had happened, "I thought you were going to sleep-in more today, that's why I decided to take the bath."

"I was going to, but I woke up when my mom called." He explained as he grabbed her hand and laced his fingers through hers before rubbing circles around her palm.

"And you answered it?" She asked surprised. He smiled at how well she knew him.

"I thought it was you." He admitted. She looked at him in confusion until he explained, "I may not have fully opened my eyes to check who was calling…."

She laughed at his explanation before switching his hand to her right so that she could reach over with her left and run her hand through his hair.

Now that he had calmed down from his tense adrenaline rush he suddenly felt more at peace than he probably had in years. Everything just felt perfect. Like life could never get any better than finding Claire in the bath tub on a Saturday morning and then taking her to breakfast with wet hair, griping in the car about his mom while she stroked his hair. He suddenly realized that we would never want anything else.

"You should move in with me." He blurted without bothering to stop to think it through.

She stopped stroking his hair and pulled back so that she could turn to look at him as she asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I want you to live with me. My place is small, but I still think there's room for the two of us and Butch…. Well… maybe not your shoes." He teased as he winked at her and squeezed her hand in his. "… We're going to be together anyways, right? So, why wait? Plus, I really like the idea of you staying the night _every night…._ What do you think?" He reasoned casually but seriously.

He hadn't taken the time to think about it before he had asked, but now that he already had… nothing had ever seemed to make as much sense as Claire living with him did.

She stared blankly at him for a second with her mouth open like she was completely stunned before turning to face out the windshield.

"What?" He laughed at her response. "It's not _that_ crazy…. I love you. I want to be with you as much as possible. So, I think you should move in… It just makes sense really, plus we _already_ have a dog together."

"Quil!" She said like she had finally found her voice after the shock and then she started laughing.

"What?" He asked laughing just because she was. He was hoping it was a good sign, that she was laughing from excitement and not because the idea was so ludicrous.

"We can't move in together!" She said reasonably before running her fingers through his hair again.

"Why not?" He asked confused before saying, "Wait, are you having second thoughts about our relationship?"

"No! Of course not! But I'm in high school, Quil! I'm still a minor! My parents had to sign a permission slip this week so that I could climb the rope in gym! How would that even work? Not to mention, there are some serious sexual implications involved in living together… expectations I'm not sure I'm ready for." She answered just as sincerely as he had asked.

His heart dropped as he considered the truth of her words for the first time. He hadn't even considered any of the facts that she had just pointed out. He hadn't thought past the idea of waking up with her in his arms every day.

"…Oh… Yeah. I didn't…. We wouldn't….. I just… It's not like…" He started out each sentence confidently before puttering out and then finishing lamely, "Yeah. I guess I just didn't think it through."

She squeezed his hand in her lap and he looked over at her as she smiled happily and said softly, "But someday. Someday, I'd really like all that. Even if we do have to get a storage locker for my shoes."

His heart lightened, and he laughed as he pulled onto the turn off that lead to La Push.

"I'm sorry." He said sincerely. "That was stupid to put you on the spot like that without thinking through what I was asking."

"It's okay, Quil. It makes me really happy that you'd want all that. I love you too you know." She said easily as she kept running her fingers loving through his hair.

He pulled her hand up from her lap so that he could kiss it before he took a breath and forced himself to say. "And I'm sorry about earlier. I swear, Claire, I'm not trying to pressure you when it comes to sex and it's not why I asked you to move in with me."

He was surprised when she started laughing and looked over to see her watching him.

"What?" He asked in confusion.

"Quil! You're the guy who yanked me out of my house looking like this" (she pulled her hand from his hair to gesture in a circle from her clothes to her wet hair and face) "…to keep from escalating anything. The guy who _forgot_ I still have two years of high school to finish before he asked me to move in because that's just how much you love me…. I _know_ you aren't pressuring me! Trust me, babe, I don't have any doubts about that!" She replied happily.

He smiled at her while laughing a little at himself. "I can't help it! You just really get me ahead of myself!" He said thinking both about finding her in her tub that morning and about wanting to live together. If he was honest with himself, he was relieved that she knew that.

"Sorry!" She laughed with a shrug.

"Don't be!" He said sincerely as he pulled up in front of Chubbie's.

Claire looked up and groaned loudly when she saw where they were. Quil laughed at her reaction and squeezed her hand before letting it go to tug on the end of a lock of her damp hair.

"Come on, Nino. You've never had breakfast here, you're going to love it!" He said softly.

She just looked at him for a second before rolling her eyes and unbuckling her seatbelt as she said, "You're lucky I love you so much…."

"I know." He said sincerely before he opened his door and walked around the car to meet Claire and then grabbed her hand as they walked in together.

As soon as they reached the hostess stand Quil caught sight of Tina in the back by the kitchen. She was speaking animatedly with two other servers but was facing them from about fifty feet away. The second she spotted them from across the restaurant she immediately ducked down behind her friends before hurrying into the kitchen with an "Oh Sh-!" that Quil could hear from where he was standing. He had to hide his laugh by faking a cough, but Claire looked up at him suspiciously, clearly not fooled.

He just shook his head and shrugged it off as they followed the hostess towards a booth in the back. He wondered vaguely if he should feel the same sense of shame in seeing her that Tina clearly did but then he remembered that he wasn't the one who had ever propositioned the other and the feeling immediately passed.

He smiled as he watched Claire slide into the booth and then immediately start combing her fingers through her damp hair nervously before thanking the hostess with a sincerity that only Claire could manage. He sat down across from her and watched her continue to nervously fidget with her hair and then her hoodie, clearly less than enthused with her appearance.

"What?" She asked when she looked up to find him watching her.

"You're beautiful." He told her sincerely.

Her hand that was yanking through her hair froze and her whole face lit up in an answering smile.

"What if she's our waitress?" Claire asked nervously in a whisper.

"She won't be." He assured her confidently.

"How can you be sure?" She asked doubtfully.

"Because I saw her duck out the back when she saw us come in." He informed her.

"Oh….. Okay then." Claire said immediately straightening her posture instead of slouching down as far into the booth as possible to avoid being spotted. She suddenly seemed completely at ease and asked, "So, what all did your mom say when she called?"

Just then one of the waitresses Tina had been hiding behind came and asked for their order. Quil wondered if Tina had given her the scoop because he didn't like the way she was looking at Claire with an evaluating stare before turning to take his order and appraising him while pulling his menu down to unnecessarily point out menu items.

He was starting to wonder if coming to Chubbie's was even worth dealing with the wait staff anymore…. When he was seventeen and a regular he would have eaten up all the extra attention from the waitresses, now he wished they would just back off and quit acting like it was some great mystery that Claire was with him.

"What?" Claire asked, clearly sensing his annoyance as the waitress walked away after taking their orders.

"What?" He asked distracted before realizing what she meant. "Oh, nothing… What were we talking about?"

Thankfully she let it drop and Quil was grateful since he didn't really want to think about it anymore.

"I was asking about your mom's phone call." She reminded him.

"Oh, right! Yeah, apparently my sister is pregnant again…" he answered.

She gave a small gasp of surprise before saying a little skeptically, "Really? Hannah is having another baby?"

"Apparently. I guess working fifty hours a week and having an extremely passive-aggressive marriage and two kids she already ignores just wasn't enough…" Quil answered doubtfully while rolling his eyes at his sister's clearly "superior" life style. She was only a paralegal and yet she had always treated Quil's life decisions as questionable while acting like she had created the perfect recipe for success.

"Maybe things aren't that bad….. maybe they're actually happy." Claire reasoned hopefully.

"I really doubt it…. Not that Hannah would ever admit it if they weren't the picture of quintessential happiness…" Quil said critically, letting his annoyance color his tone.

"Then why would they have another baby?" Claire asked sounding mystified.

"Beats me… Maybe she thought it'd be another pull to try to get Brad invested. Or maybe the stars just aligned, and it was a freak accident… Who knows?" Quil speculated unconcerned.

"That's sad..." Claire said sympathetically like the idea hurt her. "How'd the kids take the news?"

"I have no idea. My mom's all psyched about it though. She wants me to fly out to Georgia with her in August when the baby's born."

"Really?" Claire asked sounding mildly surprised. "Are you going to go?"

Quil scoffed before giving a mildly amused, "Hell no."

"Quil…" she replied in her reasonable voice.

"I told her I'd evaluate the situation once it gets closer. You'll be out of school, so we'll see what's going on and if you're free to go." He reassured her.

She seemed a little surprised at his response and said. "Well you could always go alone….. if I'm not available. I mean, I'd love to see the kids again and definitely meet the new baby, but you shouldn't plan the whole thing around me."

Quil just scoffed again in response before saying confidently, "I'm not going anywhere without you."

Claire looked troubled by the idea and was quiet for a second before saying,

"I don't know if that'd even work for me…. August might be kind of busy… We always have the Young family reunion, remember? And I'll have cheer camp that I can't miss if I want to stand any chance of beating out Macy for my spot….." she seemed to hesitate for a second before adding "Plus, I'm pretty positive I already used all of my mom's frequent flyer miles with my trip to Tennessee."

Quil just shrugged unconcerned and said, "I don't even know when this baby is supposed to pop so let's just wait and see what's going on. If you can't make it then" (he just shrugged casually again) "…we won't go, and I'll buy your ticket, you don't need to worry about it."

Claire opened her mouth and was about to respond when the waitress came back with their food.

"Can I please get some extra syrup and napkins?... Thank you!" Claire said brightly to the waitress who had barely acknowledged her and Quil hated how sincere she was being with someone who clearly didn't deserve any of her attention.

The waitress hovered for a second, looking only in Quil's direction, apparently waiting to see if he would ask her for anything else. When he didn't look to even acknowledge her she finally walked away only to have a bus boy deliver Claire's syrup without any napkins.

Quil was about to yell for the waitress when Claire caught his attention.

"Quil…" she said in a tone like he was being unreasonable.

"What?" He asked confused since he hadn't even said anything yet.

"You shouldn't plan the trip around me… Hannah is your sister, you should just go without me." She answered bringing him back to the conversation he had already forgotten.

"Hey, if you don't want to go then just say the word. I have no problem telling my mom it's never going to happen." Quil assured her reasonably.

"I don't _mind_ going. I'd just hate to be the reason you don't go, and I'd feel bad making you pay for my ticket." She answered over her food.

"Trust me, you would be the only reason I _would_ go, not the reason I wouldn't... and why would you feel badly if I bought your ticket?" He asked not getting her logic.

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly at his answer before saying, "Because flights are expensive and that's a lot of money to drop."

This time Quil rolled his eyes before saying, "Hey, what's mine is yours, remember?"

"….. Those are marriage vows!" Claire pointed out, laughing at his logic.

Quil narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the side as he tried to remember if she was right before shrugging and saying, "Are they? Eh, same difference."

She just smiled and shook her head before laughing and saying, "I'll have to keep that in mind!"

After that they fell into a contented silence as they began eating. After a few moments Quil started to notice how Claire seemed to change seated positions every few moments like she couldn't get comfortable.

"Everything alright?"

She looked up after having set down her fork to tightly squeeze a thigh with both hands.

"Yeah, I'm just starting to feel like I'm getting more sore instead of less…" She explained.

"I still don't understand why you tried to do so much all at once…" Quil admitted before shoving a giant bite of pancakes into his mouth.

"I told you, I've got to get back in shape and come back stronger than ever."

"Yeah, but don't you think you over did it?"

She made a face that indicated her discomfort before saying,

"Yeah, you might have a point there… I may never walk again at this point." She rolled her eyes at herself before suddenly saying, "Are you almost finished? We should get going so that your mom doesn't have to wait on us."

Quil scoffed a little laugh before gesturing toward the rest of his half-eaten food in front of him.

"My mom's fine. She can wait." He said assuredly.

"Well, hurry. I want to get out of here sooner rather than later." Claire said uncomfortably before switching her hands to her other thigh and rubbing it vigorously as she looked back down from looking at something past Quil's shoulder.

Quil looked behind him to see what was bothering her and spotted Tina serving a table across the restaurant. He noticed their own server stop to lean in and whisper something to her before gesturing her head in their direction. He suddenly felt the need to hurry also.

"Yeah, let's go." He agreed stopping to shove a stack of about three pancake halves into his mouth and then drinking the rest of his orange juice before he swallowed it all down at once and slid out of the booth.

Claire started laughing before she said, "I don't know how you can do that without puking!"

"It's a gift! Also, years of practice…." He answered seriously, making her chuckle again as he grabbed her waist and started to pull her and her painful legs out of the booth. She was just standing up when the waitress made it to them.

"Finished already?" she asked with what seemed to be unnecessary warmth as she only looked at Quil.

Before Claire could find a chance to undeservedly thank her for something else Quil answered,

"Yup. I'll take that!"

He reached over and grabbed the check printed on receipt paper that was sticking out of her notepad and sandwiched between two other checks.

He had had to use all of his superior vision to distinguish it. He pulled it out of her hand as he grabbed Claire's securely, lacing his fingers possessively between hers and pulled her along as he walked away calling a cold, "Thanks." behind him without looking back.

Claire followed behind him as they made it to the hostess stand and Quil paid quickly before holding the door open for her and ushering her out.

"Well I think that does it for me for Chubbie's…" He said annoyed as soon as he was out the door.

Claire quickly looked behind them to make sure the door had shut. Quil couldn't have cared less if anyone overheard him.

"Sorry, babe…. Maybe they do take-out?" Claire said sympathetically while obviously agreeing to not wishing for a return visit.

"If only." He sighed as he held her car door open and gave her a supportive hand to hold on to as she painfully bent to slide in.

"Oh, thank goodness! I was barely able to walk like a normal person far enough to get out of there without collapsing!" Claire said as soon as she was sitting comfortably in the car.

Quil laughed as he shut her door and went around to his side of the car.

As soon as he started the car he reached over intending to grab her hand, but when he noticed her still gingerly rubbing against her quads he couldn't stop himself from putting his hand on her left thigh and then gently squeezing it as he started rubbing down towards her knee.

"Better?" He asked softly.

He had to look up from her leg to see her biting her lip and scrunching her face like she was in pain before she nodded. He kept up his steady pace for a few minutes, just sitting in the car unable to put it in drive while he massaged against her leg.

He was starting to worry that he was climbing a slippery slope when it came to controlling himself around her. He knew it was a bad idea to grab her leg before he had reached to touch her, but he couldn't seem to stop himself from doing it anyways. When his hand started shaking he pulled it back and put the car in drive.

"Don't do so much next time." He said casually and was relieved that his voice sounded so close to normal.

She just nodded in agreement and then sighed and opened her eyes before she started rubbing out her other leg.

It was only a five-minute drive to his mom's house and Claire was still working on her leg by the time they pulled up. She unbuckled her seatbelt and reached to open the door but Quil placed his hand on her thigh again to stop her.

"Hey, so…. My mom still doesn't know that we're dating…"

Claire quirked one of her eyebrows up at him for a second before saying like she was concluding, "…And you want to keep it that way…."

He shrugged and then answered, "It'd probably be for the best."

She lifted her brows and shrugged as she said, "Alright, if you want to keep me your secret shame, I don't see what I can do about it…"

He immediately scoffed and then grabbed her waist to tickle her even though she was already laughing.

"Secret shame my ass! Who was ready to ask the other to move in, hmm?" he teased as he tickled her mercilessly.

She was laughing too hard to even respond until she put her hands on top of his and held them tightly to her rib cage around her jacket hoodie as she said, "I'm just kidding! I know you're obsessed with me!"

He laughed before using his hands on her to pull her to him where he landed a kiss on her forehead and said,

"Come on, Nino. Let's get this over with so that we can still have a few mom-free hours of the weekend to enjoy before I have to share you again."

"Well, I love you too, Quilliam…" she joked as they got out of the car and he came around to her side.

He poked her waist in response to his nickname as he rolled his eyes at her and then grabbed her hand and twisted his fingers through hers while he led her up to the front door.

He had to resist the urge to go around the side gate to the back path that led directly to the garage and bypass the house (and his mom) altogether. He blew out a bracing breath as he opened the door without pausing and led Claire inside calling, "Mom?"

"Quil?" He heard her respond from upstairs.

He looked down in questioning confusion when Claire pulled her hand out of his. She immediately looked back at him with a smile and a 'duh' look on her face and he remembered he had just asked her to keep their relationship a secret from his mom. He rolled his eyes and shook his head before he grabbed her hand again, this time settling for wrapping his fingers all the way around hers the way he had always held her hand before they were dating.

"Yeah, we're here!" He called back as he pulled Claire along with him towards the kitchen just as his mom made her appearance at the bottom of the stairs.

"Claire! I'm so glad you came! I never see enough of you now that Quil moved up to your reservation." She said excitedly as soon as she caught sight of her next to Quil.

Quil rolled his eyes at the _your reservation_ distinctionbut didn't say anything since he wanted to get started and finished as quickly as possible and starting another conversation with his mother about _their_ tribe versus _Claire's_ tribe would not help that process.

"Hi, Mrs. Ateara! It's good to see you!" Claire said brightly as she dropped Quil's hand to go give his mother a hug.

He immediately resented its absence and the cold emptiness that seemed to take its place. He suddenly felt like he didn't know what to do with his hand if Claire's wasn't in it and stuck it in his pocket just to have something to do with it.

"Oh, Claire! You get more beautiful every time I see you!"

Finally, she had said something that he could agree with.

Claire laughed good-naturedly as she pulled back and said, "Well, I don't know that this is my best look, but thank you, I appreciate that!" She quickly tucked her hair back behind both of her ears before she stuck her hands in her jacket pockets.

"And look at you with two arms again! When did you get your cast off?" His mom continued to gush.

"Just a few days ago. It feels really nice to have a right hand again! I can drive normally and brush my teeth again and everything!" Claire laughed.

"That's such a shame that you missed the end of your cheer season though! Tell me again how you broke your arm ….?" His mom asked, finally seeming to have noticed that Claire had managed to steer around the question the last time she had been there.

"Um…" she said hesitantly, making eye contact with Quil for a small second before looking back at his mom. "I got in a car accident after one of my competitions…. I was hit by a bus from one of the other schools actually…"

His mom gasped dramatically and then asked, "And where was Quil when you were driving yourself home alone from this competition!?" She immediately turned to face him as she barked, "Quil, why weren't you driving this sweet girl home, so you could have protected her!?"

"I wasn't there, Mom." He said bracingly trying to not roll his eyes. He felt like he had already rolled his eyes so many times today (whether in exasperation at his mom or in a teasing way with Claire) that he was surprised they hadn't gotten stuck in the back of his head yet.

"You weren't there!? Well then who was there to support her at her competition!?" His mother accused.

"My family was there, and I wasn't alone. It was just bad timing with the bus… We were hit by another car from behind and then pushed in front of it… There really wasn't anything that Quil could have done anyways." Claire tried to assure her.

"We? Who's we? Who else was in the car if Quil wasn't there?" She gasped dramatically again before she steamrolled ahead, "Your poor little brother wasn't in the car, was he!?"

"No, thankfully Jamie was with my mom, so he wasn't in the car with us…" Claire said sounding relieved.

"Oh, thank goodness!" His mom breathed for a second and Quil was about to grab Claire and start to make their way to the garage when she said, "So then who is _us_?"

Claire quickly looked at Quil with a slightly alarmed yet obviously annoyed at his less then opened attitude with his mother look on her face before hesitatingly answering, "Um…. I was with….. Bennett…. He was giving me a ride home."

"Bennett? Who's Bennett? Claire, do you have a boyfriend!? Is he cute? I want to see him!" She immediately replied.

Claire turned to Quil with a look of slight panic while clearly beseeching him for help.

"Mom." Quil said loud enough to get her attention. "We don't have that much time, what do you want us to do in the garage?"

"Just pack all the stuff in your room up in the boxes that are downstairs. I need enough space cleared out so that I can paint it next week." She answered dismissively.

"Sounds good." Quil said matching her dismissive tone as he grabbed Claire's hand and started pulling her along to the back door before his mother could grill her with any more questions.

"Wait, leave Claire here, Quil. She can tell me all about this Bennett she's dating while you sort through your junk. How long have you had a boyfriend, Claire?" His mom managed before they could make their escape.

"I'm not dating Bennett, Mrs. Aterra. Honestly, he's just a close friend!" Claire said sincerely, clearly trying to sidestep the boyfriend question.

Before his mom could respond, Quil bent over and scooped Claire up over his shoulder from where she had stopped to address her.

"Yeah, not happening. I brought Claire with me so that _I_ could spend time with her, not so that you could bombard her with all of your questions!" Quil told his mom while Claire put a hand over her mouth to muffle her giggling as she said,

"Quil, put me down!"

His mom looked like she was about to argue with him when he gave her the same exasperated, annoyed expression he had mastered twenty years earlier.

She put her hands up in surrender and said, "Fine! Let me know when you're finished! My Soap's on anyways!" She turned and made her way into the kitchen to grab her traditional sour cream and onion potato chips before moving to head back upstairs.

Quil quickly made his way out the back door and toward the garage with Claire still over his shoulder. He felt an immediate sense of relief at having escaped his mother as he opened one of the double doors so he could locate some boxes and packing materials.

"Okay, you can put me down. Your mom's gone now." Claire said from upside down.

"No way… How are you going to make it up the stairs? Here, hold this." Quil asked as he reached behind him to hand her the packing tape, she obediently grabbed it while trying to pull her loose hair back from around her face.

"Alright, but only because it might be more painful to walk up them than to be carried upside down….." Claire agreed as Quil yanked a half a dozen folded cardboard boxes out and tucked them under his arm. "So, I get not wanting to give your mom all of the gory details of our relationship, but really? She doesn't know who Bennett is!? He's a member of your pack, Quil!" Claire accused from behind him as he closed the garage door.

"Eh, my mom is on a perpetual need-to-know basis when it comes to the pack…" he answered casually.

"So, she doesn't even need to know that Bennett _exists_?" Claire questioned as she started bouncing on his shoulder as he walked up the stairs.

"Apparently not." He answered unfazed as he opened the door to his room that his mom must have unlocked earlier.

He moved inside and turned so that he could close the door on the cold drizzle outside before he threw the boxes on the bed that still had the quilt his grandmother had made for him spread across it. He finally leaned forward to set Claire gently on her feet and then pulled up to see her in an upright position with the packing tape in her hands and all her hair falling forward across her face. He just started laughing as she used her arm to try to pull it all back at once and then started blowing/spitting hair out of her mouth.

"This is your fault." She said as she tried to pull more of her hair back to where it should be.

"You look great." Quil replied absentmindedly since he wasn't really paying attention anymore as he started looking around the room he had moved into when he was fourteen and wanted some much-needed space from his mom and sister.

It was dim in the room without any lights on. The blinds were opened at the two windows, but it was gray and cloudy outside so the natural light that was coming in did little to illuminate the room crowded with the memorabilia from his high school years.

"Wow, I haven't been up here in years…" Quil noted as he picked up a perfected Rubik's cube and then chucked it in the corner on top of the banana style gaming chair that sat in front of the square box tv that probably weighed more than Claire did.

"Wow. You're so old." Claire replied tonelessly as she started looking around at the evidence of years past.

She started laughing when Quil turned sharply to look at her in exasperation. He rolled his eyes in response and grabbed the tape from her before he put a box together and tapped it in place. He did two more as Claire started poking around through the Xbox games he had in the corner.

"Wow. You have the original Halo and Call of Duty." She noted as Quil started grabbing yearbooks and comic books at random off the bookshelf by the window and throwing them in a box.

"Oh, trust me, I know… What do you think I did for those months where Jake and Embry had already phased without me and I was just sitting around wondering what the hell was going on….?" Quil answered before laughing at the memory and how stressed and alone he had felt at the time.

"Well, you should bring Bennett up here some time. He would love these…" Claire noted as she was sifting through the different games in the pile.

Quil tossed a box in front of her, "Pack it up for him. He can just have the whole thing."

"He'll love that." Claire agreed as she started to pull the entire Xbox out and put it in the box with the two controllers.

Quil was busy boxing up his computer from the early 2000's (that now seemed ancient) and everything that was with it on his desk in the corner when he heard Claire suddenly scoff and say,

"Well that's just offensive."

He turned to see her holding up a Sports Illustrated with a bikini clad woman on the cover that she had clearly pulled out from under all the games she had just boxed up.

"Oh! My Kate Upton! Put that in the definitely keeping pile!" Quil responded, casually teasing her and then started laughing when Claire narrowed her eyes and then tossed it over her head toward the corner behind her. "It's a Sports Illustrated, Claire. They send the swimsuit edition with the subscription … Not exactly a secret Playboy hidden under the mattress."

"Yeah, because I'm sure you just meant to toss it in the recycling and never noticed miss blondie with the double D's on the cover…" Claire responded a little skeptically as she started pulling out VHS tapes and then tossing them roughly in a box like she couldn't imagine ever using such old technology. It occurred to Quil that Claire didn't know who Kate Upton was and he smiled to himself at the thought as he grabbed a handful of high school homework assignments from the side of the desk and stuffed them in the small garbage can next to it.

"Wait. I'm not about to find a bunch of secret Playboys, am I?" Claire asked concerned as she looked over toward the bottom of the bed.

"Naw. I cleared all of those out when you turned twelve and started going through all my stuff all the time." He answered casually without looking back up at her and then felt a VHS tape bounce off his back.

He turned to give her a questioning look and she laughed in response before saying, "No, what I really want to know is how many girls you've had up here…."

Quil didn't even pause before saying with an air of certainty, "None. You're the first."

It may have been years since he had dated, and even then, he may not have ever had a girlfriend before Claire, but that didn't mean he didn't have enough experience with women to know that that was the only correct answer to the question and the longer it took him to answer the more trouble he'd end up in.

Claire narrowed her eyes to look at him doubtfully before she rolled her eyes and stood up on her legs gingerly, apparently willing to let it go. He was surprised as she pulled a hair tie out of her jacket pocket and slid it onto her wrist before she started brushing her hair up from off her shoulders and face, he had been expecting her to ask a least a few more questions and try to prod answered out of him.

The truth was he didn't have any Playboys hidden up there because he had been too busy sneaking real girls in to have any interest in paper (or internet) ones… That and the fact that the girls would almost always start rifling through his things and it would have been much more difficult to hide Playboys from them than it would be from Claire.

The thing that amazed Quil was that she obviously knew he was lying and yet took it all in turn. She didn't hound him for details or accuse him of anything. He imagined for a second how intimidating it must be for her, at an inexperienced sixteen to be with a much older guy, sorting through the years of his own sexual exploits. And yet she seemed to trust him completely and love him no holds barred like it just didn't matter to her. She was incredible. No man had ever been as lucky as he was.

Quil watched, slightly entranced by her as she easily pulled her long hair back into a wavy pony tail that curled down past her shoulders and caught in the hood of her jacket. She seemed to be studying the bookshelf under the window and was slightly turned away from him, so he could see the lines of her arms still held over her head touching her hair, until his eyes followed their natural curve to her shoulder and then her neck. As he focused in on her heartbeat pulsing normally at her throat it suddenly occurred to him that he still hadn't kissed her at all that day.

He immediately dropped the papers in his hand back onto the desk in front of him and crossed the room to her. She was just about to reach to grab another box when he wrapped an arm around her waist while using a hand to grab the top of her ponytail and run his hand over it as he pulled it over her far shoulder so that he could bury his face in her neck. He was instantly overcome with the smell of her shampoo, bubble bath, and mostly just the sweet smell of her own skin. He just inhaled her for a second, enjoying the feeling of her pressed up against him while she reached up behind her to touch the back of his hair.

He pressed his lips to the skin at the base of her throat and kissed it tenderly before he whispered softly with his lips still pressed to her skin, "You're amazing, you know that?"

She chuckled softly in response before she pulled away from him so that she could turn in his arms to face him.

"Why, thank you." She said happily as she ran her fingers through his hair at the back of his neck, sending tingles all the way down his spine.

"What's this?" He asked in surprise as he reached to grab at her necklace. He had just noticed the shiny, silver addition that hadn't been there when he had given it to her.

"I found it in my jewelry box yesterday. It's from one of my old charm bracelets. It's pretty perfect, isn't it?" Claire answered easily as he pinched the broken charm in his fingers until it laid flat against his index finger and he could make out the silver _Q_ that was threaded onto the gold chain directly through the _O_ part and had been bouncing up against the circle with the _C_ in the center of her collarbone.

"A Q huh?" Quil said teasingly as he tightened his arm around the back of her waist and pulled her tighter into him.

She just gave him a coy smile and then shrugged nonchalantly with her hands still around his neck, threaded in his hair.

"I'd rather wear a Q than a C anyways." She whispered honestly and smiled at him in a way that had his heart pounding before he could even think through her words.

He suddenly realized that if she was willing to wear a physical claim to him, he wished he would have just bought a ring like Jake had suggested… He didn't even think about it before he let himself lean forward in a way that almost felt like he was falling into her until his lips were finally connected firmly with hers.

He felt relief again as he moved his mouth with hers, overcome with his own love for her. She dug her fingers deeper into his hair and came up slightly on her toes to kiss him deeper in return.

Quil's heart, that had already been picking up pace, suddenly started pounding when something in her kiss changed. He had enjoyed plenty of kisses from Claire before, never enough of course, but enough to know the way she tasted and felt against his lips and yet he was completely unprepared for the new experience that overwhelmed him when she parted her lips against his and breathed against him in invitation for his tongue to explore with hers just as she brought her hand to touch his cheek and then used their physical connection to transfer to him her own desire for him.

It hit him like a shockwave as he suddenly felt her own pent up attraction _to him_ on top of all his own. He was immediately lost to the experience as he pulled her in tighter and kissed her more eagerly and aggressively. He felt her breathing become shallow and rapid before she pulled her other hand to the free side of his face and sent a second wave of her desire rolling over him.

He didn't even have _thoughts_ of control as he suddenly needed to get to as much of her skin against his as he possibly could to intensify the connection between them. He could tell from her reactions that she was feeling his own wants for her, sent to her through his skin. He wasn't even trying to send it. He'd never had as much control over it as she did, and it just flowed from him to her, whenever he was so overwhelmed like he was.

By the time the third wave came from her to him he yanked the zipper down from her jacket and she pulled her arms back as he shoved it down and let it fall off her and reveal the lace bra through her shirt that he couldn't even see because he was too busy kissing her. As soon as her jacket hit the floor he threaded his fingers through the rips in her shirt and yanked it apart so that it tore outward with a loud rip until it hit the hem and collar. He gave one extra tug and those ripped away too until Claire pulled her arms back again to let the sleeves fall off and dropped the shirt to the floor in shreds.

The second her arms were free of it her hands were on the bottom of Quil's t-shirt and he pulled his face back from the path he had been working down her neck toward her collarbone to lift his arms above his head and admire the sight of Claire in just the navy lace bra he had been fantasizing about for the past month and a half, while she yanked his shirt off over his head.

Once it was free of him she immediately pressed a hand against his stomach and then ran it up to his chest sending her desires _for him_ , to him again, this time changing the sensation slightly as it stemmed from the spot on his chest she was touching and then webbed out in every direction. She used her hand around his neck to pull his face back to hers and then immediately teased his mouth with her tongue tracing his bottom teeth before pulling back out.

He grabbed at the waist of his jeans, unbuttoning them and then pulling the zipper apart in one move as he kicked off his boots before letting his jeans drop to his feet and stepping out of them as he put his hands back on Claire's waist and led her a step backwards. She obediently followed while she tipped her head back and exposed more of her neck and the necklace with their initials on it as she strung her fingers through his hair tingling down the back of his spine again.

He didn't need any more invitation than that to pick up where he had left off, bringing his lips back to the spot just above her collarbone and starting to work his way farther down toward her bra while wrapping his right arm securely around the middle of her back so that she arched into him and quickly kicked her shoes off as her legs hit the side of the bed. He didn't pause as he leaned her backwards while simultaneously grabbing the rest of the unfolded boxes in his left hand and quickly sent them flying with a shove to the floor, clearing the bed before he laid her across it.

Quil felt her shiver and then arch her back even more, reaching her body up to him once she felt his pure _need_ for more of her skin against his own sent pouring out of him when he ran his hand from the middle of her back down and around her waist. She pulled her arms that were hooked under his, up to press her hands against his shoulder blades where she returned the favor and sent him her own needs. He quickly moved from her lips to kissing down and exploring more of her neck, knowing from her touch that that was what she wanted.

He didn't even have to look up from his kiss behind her left ear as his hand efficiently found her drawstring and untied it with a single pull. His hand then navigated on its own to grab the elastic waist of her sweat pants and in a single smooth motion pulled them all the way down toward her ankles where she immediately lifted her calves and pointed her toes until he had them off and forgotten on the floor taking her socks along with them.

He immediately shifted his weight so that he was hovering on top of her with one of his legs between hers and her left leg bent at the knee and wrapped around his leg so that she was holding him there above her. He pulled his face up from Claire's neck and chest and brought his kiss back to her lips so that he could make her feel his intense love for her before his right hand moved from the underwire of her bra he had been tracing to find the waistline of her lace panties.

They were soft enough to make him want to pull back just to get a look at them. He would have too, if her soft kiss hadn't taken his bottom lip between her own before she softly moaned against it, immediately making his strong desire for her intensify even more.

He was just about to pull down on his firm hold so that her underwear would follow the same path to ending up on the floor that her sweats just had, when her earlier words from the car suddenly came ringing back in his ears, _'There are some serious sexual implications involved in living together… expectations I'm not sure I'm ready for.'_

His eyes snapped opened and he pulled back and let her go so that he could use his hands to press against the mattress on either side of her shoulders as he pushed up to hover a foot above her so that he could look down at her.

"Cl-"

He hadn't even gotten half a word out when she used both of her hands and grabbed the sides of his face tightly in her palms, cutting him off, from where they had trailed from his shoulder blades to the sides of his chest as he had pulled up,

She was biting her lip tightly, but she didn't look nervous at all. She was staring directly into his eyes and her pupils seemed almost completely dilated. It was suddenly the image that he had had of her underneath him, biting her lip in desire as she wore the blue lace bra on his bed. Of course, they were supposed to be on his bed in _his_ apartment,but he really wasn't paying attention to the particulars. He really wasn't paying attention to anything that wasn't _her_.

She quickly released her lip from under her teeth, relaxing it as she held his eyes and started nodding her head emphatically in immediate answer to the question she hadn't even let him ask.

 _Are you sure?_?

He had barely thought it and hadn't even gotten close to saying it out loud, but she nodded insistently again like she had heard it. She used her hands against his face to let him feel exactly how much she wanted to continue, and it was as if she had screamed _DON'T STOP!_ without using any words at all.

He only had to look at her for another half second before immediately reaching underneath her with his right hand and unhooking her bra that he had spent so much time dreaming about, but suddenly didn't have any interest in seeing anywhere near her.

He moved his lips back to her neck as he came back to her and felt her hands as they ran down his chest and then reached the elastic of his boxer briefs at the same moment his left thumb hooked under the lace of her panties above her hip.

He started his slow decent to remove them, building the anticipation for her and had only made it about an inch when he suddenly heard the absolute last voice in the world he wanted to hear in the middle of this intimate moment with Claire, saying his name.

"Quil! Get the hell off of her!" Came the horrified chastisement from his mother in the now opened doorway.

* * *

 **OMGG! I mean I wrote the dang thing and I'm freaking out about it right now... I'm dying to hear reactions so please share because in my book (lol and I mean that as an expression, not literally ;P) this is a pretty crazy monumental chapter... like content-wise a lot happens! So, please tell me all your reactions and who was expecting what to happen. I actually have a few different beta readers who help me try to perfect my content before I actually post it (again, obviously i take this way too seriously) and they all seemed to have had different reactions about their expectations of what they thought was going to happen so I'm seriously dying to hear feedback from my readers of what you guys thought! Okay, so that was my schpeel about the chapter, now onto my bigger announcement! (I'm literally bouncing in my seat I'm so excited right now!)**

 **Drum roll please!**

 **Okay so this coming weekend (the first weekend in September to be specific) is Labor Day weekend here in the States, and the reason that that is hugely significant for me is** _because_ **it's the one year anniversary of when I started writing Imprintation! You guys... I seriously don't even know how to express how much I** _never_ **would have anticipated a year ago being where I'm at now and the success I've had with this story. Comparatively, I realize that this might not be what most people would define as success but to me... (Oh crap I'm tearing up now... get it together Jess!) ... To me it's meant more than I** _ever_ **could have expected. I have never even considered myself to be a writer (I still don't to be honest, this is just something that I do because this story got to be too much in my head and started pouring out of me onto a document last Labor Day), my younger sister is literally getting her master's in creative writing and I'm just a stay at home mom who didn't even finish two years of college (wow, I am suddenly giving a lot of personal information here...) I never ever ever anticipated that I would be able to write and complete at least two books (don't worry this definitely wasn't the last chapter of Claireification) and create something that would connect me to a global network and have thousands of views... whew okay! So now that you see why I'm so mushy I definitely feel that this anniversary needs to be celebrated sooooo...**

 **I'm doing a give away! On Labor Day (September 3rd) I will draw one of my amazing reader's names and then send them ... (I know the anticipation of the prize is too exciting, right!? jk jk) a replica of Quil's promise bracelet he made for Claire and a sweet fanfiction t-shirt (I will be posting pictures of them both on my Twitter very soon, by like Monday, okay? I'm (AT sign)MissedJess if you haven't found me yet). All you have to do to enter is somehow leave me a comment that you would like to be entered, (you can leave a review, send a PM to stay anonymous, tweet me, really anyway you can think of is fine) Leave a name (It can definitely be a code name or user name here guys... the internet is a scary place) and SOMEWAY for me to contact you if you're the lucky winner! If you're a guest reader without an account for me to message consider sending me a private message and leaving an email account I could contact along with a code name or tweeting me. (Please do not feel that you have to leave an email address in a public review for just anyone to see!) if that doesn't work then let me know and I'll set up an email address that anyone can email to enter in. AND the last thing you need to enter is... just tell me your favorite part of the story :'), it can be from either book. And that's it. I'll mail the bracelet and T-shirt anywhere in the world to you. (Jen and my other Aussie friends down under, I'm talking to you here ;))**

 **Okay so review of what you need to enter,**

 **1\. a code name or username of some sort for me to actually distinguish you by (If you have a fanfic account and leave a review that's fine, i'll just use your username).**

 **2\. a way for me to contact you if you win (if you have an account I'll just PM you).**

 **3\. your favorite part of Quil and Claire's story up to this point.**

 **That's it you guys! I'll post a chapter on Labor day (and some definitely before then too!) and announce the user/code name of the winner! I'm so excited to celebrate this monumental occasion with you! Thank you for sharing this with me and making it this success I truly feel it is! My heart is full, (and I'm a giant cheese-ball...)**

 **xoxo**

 **Jess**


	16. Chapter 15

***Author's Note***

 **I'm finally back after that cliff hanger! Here's the next chapter! I'm excited for you guys to see it! Also side note, Happy one year anniversary to me and this sweet story that makes my (and hopefully a few of your's!) heart happy! Of course today is the day of the big give away so without further ado... the winner is... drum roll please...;)**

 **Aussie Jen!**

 **Looks like I will be mailing my first package down under! ;)**

 **Thanks to everyone for all the support and continuing to read and sticking with me! I hope you're enjoying the direction it's going in, and if you don't... well sorry, not sure what to tell you about that... but you probably wouldn't still be reading if you didn't like it at least a little bit right? lol idk... anyways, Jen if you could please send me a message so that I have a way of contacting you for small irrelevant things like an address that would be great! ;)**

 **xoxo**

* * *

CHAPTER 15

Quil had had plenty of moments in his life of feeling his fair share of resentment towards his mom; whether it stemmed from her obvious preference for Hannah, the way she had completely shut down and focused exclusively on her own pain the year after his dad left, or simply the fact that _she_ resented _him_ because of his name and the fact that he looked so much like his dad. Whatever the reason, Quil felt he had enough to hold against her if they ever made it to family therapy…

But he was positive he had never resented his mom as much as he did in the moment she interrupted him with Claire.

"What the hell are you doing!?" His mom shrieked still standing in the doorway.

He was still staring into Claire's shocked eyes from a foot above her. He had pulled up from kissing her neck as soon as he heard his mom's voice saying his name but hadn't moved since. He was still hovering on top of Claire and his frozen thumb was still hooked under the edge of her lace underwear that it had only managed to pull down an inch below her hip.

There was a single moment where he and Claire seemed to be locked into each other's shocked gaze, questioning how to handle being caught by his mom in bed together. It wasn't until Claire blinked and then dropped her hands from the waist of his boxer briefs to curl her arms under her back and hook her bra back together that the somewhat irrational resentment abated and Quil finally cleared his throat as he pulled off her.

"Hey, Mom…." He answered lamely as he turned to sit up facing her in the doorway.

He knew it wasn't the best reply but honestly what was he supposed to say? She _knew_ what he was doing. Claire quickly sat up behind him but pressed her chest to his back to hide from view as she ducked her face down between his neck and shoulder blade. He could feel the heat burning from her face against his skin and knew she had to be blushing a darker red than she probably ever had before if it was warm enough for him to actually feel next to his own hot temperature. He reached a protective, comforting arm across her until he rested his hand against the side of her legs from where they were curled up protectively next to his on the mattress.

"Quil! What is the matter with you!? She's fifteen! It's illegal, not to mention completely wrong and inappropriate!" His mom immediately started ripping into him.

"Mom." Quil said with a sigh, wishing she hadn't caught him so that he wouldn't have to try to defend himself to her…. "She's not fifteen and it's legal….." he finished a little lamely knowing that _'it's legal….'_ was about the weakest possible defense.

Claire pulled back to look at him in alarm as if it was the first time she had ever even considered the legal ramifications of their actions.

"Is it? Could you be charged!?" She asked softly but with a distinct trace of panic while speaking just to him as he looked over his shoulder at her.

"No! We're fine." He assured her as he reached around to comfortingly touch her shoulder that was poking out around his. "The age of consent is sixteen in the state of Washington."

She seemed decidedly relieved as she looked up at him and he gave her shoulder a small squeeze while giving her a loving smile and trying to reassure her. He was desperate for his mom to leave so that he could be left alone to talk with Claire and make sure she was alright. He was already having unpleasant flashbacks of her crying on his kitchen counter after their unexpected make-out session that had gone too far when she had given him the hickeys, and things hadn't escalated nearly as far then…

"How would you even _know_ that, Quil!?" His mom demanded sounding even more upset.

Quil blew out an agitated breath and let go of Claire as he turned back around to face his mother. He knew he looked at least six or seven years younger than he really was, maybe even eight, and as much as that would usually help in a situation like this, it did nothing in _this_ situation since his mother knew exactly how much older than Claire he really was. He ran his hands through his hair and grabbed the back of his neck as he admitted less than proudly,

"Jake looked it up before we even started dating…"

Claire wrapped a reassuring arm around his waist from where she was still pressed up against his back behind him. He immediately put his arm over top of hers and grabbed her hand in his, threading his fingers through hers and holding tight since holding her hand was currently the last thing he was concerned about his mother witnessing.

"Dating… What… Quil! I have half a mind to call the cops right now! What are her parents going to think!? They've trusted you with this little girl for…. I don't know how many years and now you're taking her to bed?! What could you possibly be thinking!? Really! What the hell is wrong with you!?" She demanded in complete exasperation.

Quil didn't know what to say. He had always known that their relationship would look questionable but hearing the accusations his mom was throwing at him he couldn't deny how bad it looked. It looked _BAD._ It looked bad enough that all of the legitimate justifications fell flat on his tongue. He felt himself deflate a little as he ran his free hand through his hair again and felt Claire squeeze his hand covering hers as she tightened her hold around his waist.

"Seducing a sixteen-year-old girl! Bringing her up here like she's just another one of the trashy girls you used to rope into your pants in high school! How could you possibly think of compromising her like that!? Not to mention, what everyone else will think! I'd scream for the police right now if I didn't think they'd register you as a sex-offender!" She continued on seeming to gain momentum as she went instead of cooling down.

"… Mom.." Quil said a little lamely just wanting her to stop but not even sure what he would say if she did. The facts were on her side and Quil was not feeling great about the more than compromising position she had found him in.

"I have never been so ashamed! As if our family wasn't put through enough degradation when your father left… and now you're just like him! No sense of morality! Of integrity! Look at you willing to drag yourself through the mud and taking this girl with you! And what are you going to do when she gets pregnant!? Probably take off just like your dad, leaving her knocked up and in high school!-"

"Enough!"

His mother seemed like she had more to say and hadn't even stopped to take a breath when she cut off after Claire surprised everyone by speaking loudly overtop of her.

Quil turned to look at her in surprise still hiding her exposed body behind him.

"Leslie, take a walk with me!" Claire said immediately.

Quil was too stunned to even respond other than to watch her as his mom said in shocked confusion, "What? Where?"

"To First Beach. We haven't had a chance to spend any time together in years and I think it's time for us to do some serious catching up!" Claire answered as if she had made plans to go to lunch together on a Wednesday, as opposed to hiding behind Quil in just her underwear.

" _Okay_... If that's what you want, Claire." She answered a little doubtfully like she would much prefer to stay and yell at Quil instead….. Quil would prefer it instead of sending Claire off somewhere alone with her.

"I do! Just give me a minute to get dressed and I'll be right down." Claire said confidently right before Quil who had been watching her as she completely redirected the runaway train that was his mother, finally said, "Claire… you don't need to-"

She silenced him with a look that told him this was exactly what she was going to do and to shut up before his mom went off again. He quit talking but didn't like the way she was preparing to deal with the aftermath that he should be dealing with.

"Okay, I'll wait downstairs." His mom agreed hesitantly before looking away from Claire to scowl almost hatefully at Quil and then turned to go back down the stairs and let the door slam closed behind her.

The second she was gone Claire relaxed her posture against him so that she was sitting back instead of hiding pressed up behind him and Quil let her hand around his waist go as he leaned forward to put both of his elbows on his knees and rub his face with his hands as he groaned.

The reality of the situation kept hitting him in waves and making him tense as his mom's more pointed words kept bouncing around his ears. He sat for a second with his face hidden before he realized Claire's bare legs next to his were shaking beside him. He immediately pulled back from his hands to look over at her as he asked concerned,

"Hey, you okay?"

She had been staring at the door his mom had left through and looked over at him when he spoke. She put her hand softly on his back and then gave him a small but encouraging smile before she nodded.

He reached out and touched her legs next him on the mattress before he said, "Are you sure? I mean, that wasn't great with my mom and everything, but before that…. I mean, we hadn't really talked about when…." He faded off suggestively.

She reached up and gave his arm a squeeze and then started scooting her legs through his arms as she made her way to the edge of the bed.

"No, the only thing I'm upset about is your mom and what she said." Claire said animatedly as Quil lifted his arms off her so that she could get off the bed.

"My mom?" Quil asked, surprised that as upsetting as his mom's rants must be to her that that would be what she would be thinking about as they sat both undressed after being caught seconds before crossing the line together.

Claire shook harder in response as she stood in front of him in her navy bra and cream-colored lace panties Quil finally got a chance to look at (which definitely weren't disappointing), with her messy pony tail that was falling loosely to the side after being pushed around on the bed. She pulled her hair down and huffed as she bent down and yanked her sweat pants on.

"Yeah, I can't believe she would compare you to your dad like that! As if you would ever abandon me! As if the private decisions we make regarding _our_ relationship are somehow akin to criminal activity that shames both of our families and our ancestors!" She ranted as she tied the draw string closed around her waist covering her panties again before Quil had a real chance to admire them.

Quil laughed and she looked up at him in surprise as he stood up in front of her. "Babe, I'm not worried about my mom or whatever stupid crap she says, the only thing I'm worried about is you!"

He wrapped his arms around her and ran a hand through her wavy hair as he pulled her close and kissed the top of her hair.

She returned his embrace by wrapping her arms up under his until she was rubbing his bare back as she asked, "You think I'm about to freak out because of what just happened?"

He shrugged around her while he enjoyed the feeling of being skin to skin against her chest since he hadn't put his clothes back on and she was still in just her bra. "Maybe." He said reasonably. " _Are you_ about to freak out because of what just happened?"

"….. I don't think so… but we do need to talk about it sometime when your mom isn't waiting for me ready to call the cops if I don't appear in the next twenty seconds!" She answered rationally as she pulled back from him to continue getting dressed.

"You don't have to do this." He said seriously as he held on to her shoulders to make her stop and give him her attention. "Just wait here, I'm going to go downstairs and deal with her and then we can just get out of here."

She grabbed onto his arms as she shook her head and said determinedly, "No. She's just going to continue to paint me as the victim and you as the predator who preys on me. I need to set her straight. And trust me, as someone who was actually a potential victim of that exact situation less than a week ago I don't take the accusation lightly. She can't just throw words around like that and think it doesn't matter."

"Claire, honey, that's just how my mom handles everything. She's going to over dramatize it as much as possible, but you don't need to personally feel responsible to handle this. Don't you think that _I_ should go explain things to her…. Or at least tell her to stay the hell out of it?"

He could tell from the stubborn look she gave him that that was not an option. She pushed back from him and sat on the edge of the bed before she put her shoes and socks back on, giving Quil a nice view of her in her bra as she bent forward to tug her Converse into place. He quickly swiped his jeans off the floor and yanked them back on as she finished and moved to the floor in the middle of the room.

"Well that's not going to work…." She muttered as she lifted the shreds of what used to be her t-shirt before dropping it and grabbed her jacket off the floor. "This looks so trashy…" she noted as she zipped it up to just below her collar bone. It still left a solid few inches of bare midriff at her waist and it was obvious from it forming to everywhere her bra hit her that she wasn't wearing anything else underneath it.

"Here." Quil said as he grabbed his shirt next to hers on the floor and handed it to her. "Just wear this."

"You sure?" She questioned while giving him a look that clearly asked if currently going shirtless around his mom was the best approach.

"Yeah, I used to live here, remember? I'll find something somewhere." He assured her as she unzipped the jacket and stripped back down to her bra before grabbing his shirt and throwing it over herself. It immediately covered all of her, so she looked like she was drowning in it.

"Your mom is going to love this…" she teased with a wink as she flicked her hair out of the collar.

"Well, I think it's sexy." He told her honestly and had to remind himself that his mom was waiting, and it wouldn't be a good idea to try to convince her to strip her sweats back off so that he could see her in just his shirt instead.

"Well, I'll have to keep that in mind." She said suggestively in a way that sent tingles all the way from his spine down to his fingertips as she tucked the very front of the shirt in her waist band while letting the rest hang out loosely before throwing her jacket back on over it.

Quil smiled at the thought as he reached for her hand and wished he could just run away with her somewhere where they would just be left alone.

"'Kay, I'll be back…. Hopefully…" she said teasingly while she backed toward the door pulling her hand away to pull her hair back up into a messy ponytail. He quickly reached to pull her back to him and wrapped his arms around her waist holding her securely to him.

"Okay… and then we'll talk about it?" He said suggestively, feeling concerned that she was leaving before they had had a chance to address their situation.

"Yes. Then we'll talk about it." She answered confidently with her hands pressed up against his chest, she reached up on her toes and he leaned down to meet her kiss.

Quil expected her to pull away quickly but was surprised when her kiss felt heated and urgent. It was as if they were picking up where they had left off, only vertically and with clothes this time. He was more than willing to respond as he pulled her tighter and eagerly returned her kiss that made him feel hot enough to be grateful he wasn't wearing a shirt.

She pulled back a few seconds later and pressed her forehead to his. He immediately leaned against her and kept his eyes closed, trying to absorb every second of the moment with her.

"But, Quil?" She asked with her voice sounding surprisingly throaty.

"Yeah?" He asked finally pulling back as he opened his eyes to look at her.

"…I'm not upset about it." She said suggestively as she raised a single eyebrow and gave him another coy smile as she pulled back from him and then made her way to the door where she turned to smile at him over her shoulder before opening it and running down the stairs. He could hear her greeting his mom as friendly as ever,

"Thanks for waiting! You ready to go?"

Quil was still standing in the middle of the room where Claire had left him in a complete daze. If she hadn't walked away so fast, it would have taken another interruption from his mom to keep him from throwing her on the bed and picking up from _exactly_ where they had left off. It took him a full minute before he had a clear enough head to try to focus again. He didn't think he would ever stop thinking about Claire in just her underwear with her necklace and messy hair. He wanted to keep that memory for forever to pull out on bad days and remember how lucky he was.

All things considered, he was in a surprisingly good mood as he finished packing up the desk with the computer and moved to the closet. His mom had of course made some good points for why he should probably keep his hands off of her but Quil had wrapped his mind around the fact that Claire was sixteen before he had ever asked her to try for more with him. Now that they _were_ more, it only made sense that they're relationship would eventually progress to the next level. The only thing holding him back was waiting to make absolutely sure she was ready.

Even if her age should have been a factor, Claire looked and acted so much older than she was. He didn't think of her as a sixteen-year-old high school student… No, he thought of her as the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He had already tried and failed miserably to set restrictions for himself when it came to dating her and he couldn't see himself being successful at all of waiting for her to turn twenty-one or even eighteen before he touched her again.

The fact that she seemed so okay with things left him feeling extremely optimistic about the near future. He just kept thinking about the look on her face when he had paused to give her the chance to hit the brakes. She looked so certain, so sure.

They would definitely need to have a real conversation about it when she got back, but if she was really ready to take that step forward in their relationship then he had no problem walking her through it.

Quil made quick progress over the next hour of packing up his bedroom. He quickly realized however why all of his clothes that were still hanging in his closet or else folded in his dresser had been left in the first place. Everything seemed to have been left behind from his poser days and there was nothing here he would ever remotely consider wearing again. The most respectable thing he was able to find was a grey deep V-neck t-shirt from Abercrombie that was a size medium and been worn to stretch tight across his chest and biceps before he had even phased into the giant sized wolfman he had been for the last decade and a half. There was no way he was even going to try to fit into it, but he figured Claire could at least wear it so that he could reclaim his shirt and spend the rest of the day smelling her on him.

Once it hit the hour mark since Claire had left with his mom he started to get nervous and fidgety. He still hated that he let Claire deal with the fall-out from his mom instead of taking her head on himself. He knew it was what Claire wanted but without her there to reaffirm that for him he couldn't help the protective instincts surging from his chest that made him want to run out the door and follow her scent and footsteps while calling her phone repeatedly until she was safe in his arms again. He was twitching and pacing back and forth across the small -now completely packed- bedroom when she came through the door alone at the hour and fifteen-minute mark.

He quickly blew out a relieved breath he must have been holding and felt his entire body relax at the sight of her.

"Oh good. You finished in here. We should get out of here because I know your mom does _not_ want us up here alone together anymore!" Claire said as a greeting.

Her hair was hanging loose around her shoulders and back again and he could immediately smell the unique scent of her mixed with her shampoo and today her bubble bath. He just smiled at her and closed the small gap between them to wrap his arms around her and bury his face in her hair and get a more concentrated dose of it.

"Hey." He said happily, "How'd that go?"

Claire seemed to shrug a bit before saying, "Fine. I think she respects where we stand now so… goal met, right? I thought you were going to try to find a shirt so that we could get out of here inconspicuously."

"Yeah, about that…. This was all I could find. Think we could trade?" he asked as he held up the shirt he had left on the bed.

Claire smiled as she looked at it and Quil could tell from the look on her face that she was envisioning him trying to stretch into it.

"Sure." She said happily as she tugged the zipper of her hoodie down and tossed it on the bed before unabashedly pulling the hem of Quil's shirt she was currently wearing over her head.

Quil gave a small intake of breath at the unexpected view of Claire in her bra again and she looked up in surprise as she handed him his shirt back.

"What?" she asked looking down at herself and suddenly seeming self-conscious.

"I'm just not used to you stripping down like that right in front of me. It's hella hot and I have to keep reminding myself that we have maybe three minutes of alone time left before my mom comes back up here."

She smiled and shook her head at him as she pulled the shirt from the bed over her.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked expectantly because he was still standing there watching her.

He quickly pulled his t-shirt back over himself that did indeed smell distinctly like Claire and then reached for her hand to lead her back down the stairs.

"Did you grab the rest of my shirt? I don't think I could handle the rest of the humiliation if your mom came up here to paint next week and found it in pieces." Claire asked.

"Uh… hold on." Quil replied as he dropped her hand and spotted the white shreds of Claire's shirt on the floor by the garbage where it had ended up in the course of Quil's hurried packing. "Got it!" he replied as he grabbed it off the floor and then shoved it in the back pocket of his jeans.

"You're not going to keep that thing, are you?" Claire asked him, "Just burry it in the trash somewhere she won't see it."

"Hell yeah, I'm keeping it. This is now a memento of the very best sexual experience that ever happened in this room." Quil assured her as he moved back to the door.

"Almost sexual experience." Claire corrected.

"Naw. Almost or not it still beat all the others. Any moment with you does." He told her truthfully even though he knew it sounded like a line and looked back at her to see her blushing slightly but looking incredibly pleased at the same time.

"I love you, Claire. You know that, right? No other girl could ever compare to the way you make me feel."

Now that he had had some time alone to think about it he was actually relieved for his mom's interruption. His teenaged bedroom above the garage where he had been with so many other girls so casually was basically the very last place he ever wanted to _be_ with Claire. Especially for her first time… _Their_ first time.

She smiled up at him and reached up to softly kiss him by just barely brushing her lips to his before she pressed her forehead against his and whispered softly, "I love you too, Quil. Always have, always will."

 **Claire:**

Claire blew out an exaggerated breath before she opened the bedroom door to hold for Quil while he carried the box with the Xbox for Bennett down the stairs. She knew that Leslie would still be waiting and just wanted to leave Quil's Mother behind as quickly as possible and never come back. She could barely feel her legs anymore but at least the numbness was an improvement on how insanely sore she had been. She and Leslie had walked so far across the beach and back that she had managed to walk the soreness out but now she just wanted to sit and never move again.

Despite the situation, which left Claire in a slightly grumpy mood, she smiled when she followed behind Quil and saw the corner of her shredded t-shirt hanging out of his back pocket. She couldn't believe that he actually wanted to keep it. Going through his things to help him pack his room from his high school days Claire had been surprised when she hadn't found a single memento from any of his conquests. Not a single one showing that there had ever been any girls in his life before her. The fact that she was the first one that he wanted to save any memories from made her feel incredibly special even though she knew it was silly and just a stupid ripped up t-shirt.

Claire looked up just in time to catch Leslie looking at Quil with narrowed eyes. She was clearly looking at the t-shirt that he was wearing before immediately looking up at Claire to evaluate what she was currently wearing. She felt her cheeks warm in response since Quil's shirt that she was currently wearing, though close in color, fit her very differently than the shirt she had been wearing when she had gone up five minutes earlier.

Quil either didn't notice his mom's reaction or simply didn't care because he wasn't fazed at all when he said,

"Alright, everything is packed up in there. If you clear out the garage, I'll come back next week to take the boxes I want and move the rest downstairs."

He had been walking down the stairs when he had said it and finished right as he reached his mom at the bottom.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Leslie basically yelled at him as he went to move past her with the box for Bennett in his hand.

Before he could respond she had reached up and smacked the back of his head with her open hand.

Claire felt her eyes widen in shock and heard her own gasp in response. She knew Leslie was still upset with Quil even after their hour-long conversation, but she hadn't been expecting this reaction from her.

When Quil turned to respond she pulled her hand back again and slapped him right across the face before he even had the chance to speak. Claire heard the sound of the slap ring across her ears.

It wasn't until she noticed Leslie turn her head sharply to look at her that she realized she had taken a step forward and caught Leslie's wrist on her downswing. It was obvious from the way her muscles were tensed that she had been preparing to come back up to slap him again.

Claire had never felt so angry in her entire life. She felt like something inside of her had snapped. Like she might literally singe something with her anger. She had caught Leslie's wrist in her right arm and it was the most strain she had put on it since she had gotten her cast off, she was squeezing the woman's wrist has hard as she could and she could tell from the look on Leslie's face and the way she was flexing her fingers that she was hurting her.

It took every single ounce of Claire's self-control to force herself to let go of her wrist and when she did she shoved her arm forward so that Leslie had to take a step backwards to avoid falling over.

"If I ever see you do something like that again, I swear, I'll hit you harder than you could ever hit him."

Claire had meant to say it calmly, but she was so upset her voice was shaking, which normally would have made her feel embarrassed, but she was so angry she didn't have room to feel anything else at all.

She saw Leslie's look of incredulous disbelieve and watched her open her mouth to respond but Claire cut her off.

"Stop. No, don't say anything, I don't want to hear it … I don't care if you gave birth to him! No one, _NO ONE_ hits him like that! I should slap you right now just to prove it. What the hell is wrong with him!? What the hell is wrong with _YOU!?_ You can't go around smacking people upside the head because they are bigger than you! I'm smaller than you! Okay, well let's do this. I'm allowed to hit you than, right!?"

Claire was huffing and ranting almost nonsensically as she took a step forward while raising her hand up in full preparation to backhand his mom when Quil caught up to her.

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa!" he said as he quickly grabbed Claire around the waist and pulled her back before she could reach his mom.

Claire couldn't even think straight and felt like her senses weren't working correctly because she felt like she wasn't seeing completely clearly, and her eyes wouldn't look away from Leslie's shocked face and somehow she could smell something burning like her anger was literally singeing something. She could feel Quil dragging her backwards across the yard toward the side gate, but she was entirely focused on his mom who she was still lunging toward.

"What the hell is wrong with _YOU_!?" Claire heard herself screaming at her.

She was so angry she felt like she was having an out-of-body experience and was merely a bystander witnessing as Quil dragged her through the gate and toward his car.

"I'll ripped you apart!... You can't touch him like that!... _Bitch_!" she didn't think she was making any sense but was so enraged she couldn't stop herself.

She was somehow even angrier now than she had been when she had caught Leslie's wrist and she felt like it was just continuing to build inside her. The second Quil got her to the car and opened her door for her she climbed in and immediately buckled her seatbelt with shaking hands, wanting to get as far away from that woman as she possibly could before she did something she would actually regret.

Claire knew that there was no way that Leslie could actually hurt Quil but just the memory of her slapping him across the face that was running through her head as Quil put the box in the trunk that he had still managed to carry while dragging Claire away from his mom, and it had her seeing with a tinge of red. She was fuming when Quil slid into the driver's seat and started the car.

"Ahhh!" Claire basically growled with rage as Quil immediately pulled the car out and drove off.

She thought she might have heard Quil choke back a laugh and try to cover it with a cough, but she was too stuck in her own head to really notice. She was suddenly wishing for the first time that she was a werewolf like Quil and Bennett and the rest of the pack so that there could be some release to the explosion and shaking building inside her. But then again, if she was to phase right now she would just go back and literally rip Leslie apart.

Quil hadn't spoken at all and she wasn't sure where he was going since he hadn't gotten back on the highway to head home. They drove for about five minutes without speaking while Claire huffed and tried to get her shaking under control before Quil pulled the car over and parked it right in front of the path that led to the cliffs he had taken her diving off of since she was thirteen.

"Come on." He said easily with a tilt of his head indicating they should get out of the car.

He turned off the engine and hopped out while Claire fumbled with the handle to open her door. She was shaking so badly she couldn't quite grab it and Quil opened it for her before she could manage it and then reached in over her to unbuckle her seatbelt that she had forgotten she was wearing.

He was leaning over right in front of her and his chest brushed against hers as he clicked the release button. His familiar scent was the first thing she noticed that she felt like she was actually perceiving correctly since she had gotten so angry her senses had gone haywire. His smell felt like it was clearing her head slightly as he leaned in and popped a quick kiss on her lips that was completely unexpected.

"Come on, my little hot-head. Let's go cool you off!" he said happily with a smile that she would have absolutely loved if she had been able to fully process it instead of trying to figure out how to manage a rage she had never experienced before.

She followed Quil out of the car and immediately grabbed the hand he was holding out to her. She followed him easily and was surprised when he walked right past the path that led to the cliffs that she had been expecting him to take.

"Where are we going?" her voice shook as she asked.

"Just a sec... You'll see in a second, baby." Quil answered like it was a lovely Saturday and they were just exploring together.

Claire's hand was still shaking against his as he led her expertly through the small path in the woods that he had taken her down. She had no sense of familiarity to her surroundings but could feel the down hill slant as Quil helped her trek the slightly rough terrain that got steeper the farther they went.

They had only gone about a quarter mile when Quil said,

"There you go, babe. Go dunk that head of yours and cool down."

She didn't know what he was talking about until he pulled her right into a clearing she had never seen before. There was about an eight-foot water fall coming from a stream that clearly led out to the ocean. At the bottom of the waterfall the water had pooled out about thirty to forty feet and looked pretty deep before the spring continued on downhill toward the ocean.

Claire gasped, completely shocked at the beautiful location she had never seen before. How had he never brought her here before? She quickly looked around herself before turning to look back at Quil.

She could already feel herself starting to calm down when she turned to catch Quil staring at her. He was smiling slightly with his lips pressed together like he was entertained watching her. When she looked back at him standing about six feet behind her since she had kept walking forward to get a better look and he had stopped, he raised his eyebrows at her in a questioning manner.

It only took her a second to realize he was waiting to see what she would do. Quil knew that she would calm down just by seeing something like this and that she would relax just by being with him, but it was clear he was giving her another option too. It had been an overcast and chilly March morning, but the sun had come out in the last hour and it was about fifty-five degrees.

"What? You don't think I'll go in?" Claire asked a little defensively.

Quil just smiled and then shrugged one shoulder up before saying, "It's pretty cold. It's snow run off."

Claire narrowed her eyes at him and though she was still angry she was only doing it playfully. After all she wasn't angry with _him._

"You're not cold. You're always hot."

"Ehh, I'm not so sure… you seem like you're pretty hot right now too." He replied easily, still watching her from a few feet away.

"Not hot enough to compensate for that." She answered while nodding toward the water and starting to kick off her shoes.

Quil just smiled and shrugged again like he was still waiting to see what she would do.

"Come in with me. Keep me warm." Claire said simply just before she started yanking off her socks and stuffing them in her shoes.

When he didn't reply right away she looked back up at him to see him evaluating her.

"What? You won't get in?" she asked surprised.

He smiled, and Claire felt her heart physically skip a beat.

"No, I'll get in if you will." He quickly agreed.

Claire bit her lip in nervous but excited anticipation as she quickly threw off her jacket and then looked around herself to double check that they were completely alone before pulling on her drawstring and then dropping her sweatpants. Quil was walking toward her and simultaneously removing his shoes at the same time.

"I'm not going to get naked if that's what you're thinking…" She said warningly to him as he got close enough to her to be considered in her personal space.

Quil made a tisking noise sounding teasingly regretful before he leaned forward to kiss her. Claire had to crank her neck up to meet his quick kiss since she hadn't been expecting it and didn't have time to come up on her toes, but he pulled back right after letting his lip meet hers. He only took a half step back before he pulled his shirt off over his head right in front of her so that her face was basically in his chest. Claire gave a sigh when she saw it.

"What?" he asked.

She easily reached over the small less than a foot distance between them and put her hands on his chest. He seemed to have the perfect amount of chest hair between his pecks that to her was the ultimate sign of masculinity without being gross and over the top and Claire let her fingers trail through it as her left hand closed on top of his abs.

"You have such a nice body." She explained without looking away from his chest that she was unashamedly admiring.

She was surprised when he laughed against her and she had to look up at him.

"Took you long enough to notice!" he teased her before reaching down and unbuttoning his jeans and letting them fall to the ground next to hers.

"You ready to get in?" he asked as he stepped out of his jeans causing her to drop her hands on him.

She looked back at the water that looked so inviting and sparkly in the sunlight but would undoubtedly be freezing and then back at Quil next to her in just his boxer-briefs. She bit her lip and nodded her head nervously before she pulled her t-shirt over her head and let it hit the small pile of their clothes on the ground. Quil blew out a whistle between his teeth in response and she looked up at him feeling suddenly nervous in just her underwear.

"You look so good like that it's literally dangerous." He said as he took a step back to her.

"Um… thanks?" Claire replied nervously as she bit her lip and resisted the urge to nervously cross her arms across her chest.

Quil laughed in response as he grabbed her face in his hands pulled her towards him. She stepped up on her toes this time to meet his kiss and immediately felt pure relief when his lips met hers. All of her residual anger seeped out of her as soon as she felt his lips, taking her nervousness along with it.

She was here with Quil who she loved completely and trusted explicitly. She couldn't feel any sense of anger and felt no sense of discomfort at the thought of him seeing her without clothes. She let herself get lost in the kiss as she pulled his bottom lip between hers and kissed it softly before sucking it into her mouth and tasting it. He tasted sweet like he had just been eating some sort of candy and he gave a throaty chuckle at her enthusiasm before she released his lips and let him pull back. he kissed her lips softly three more times, pulling back more quickly each time before he moved on to quickly place kisses on the skin by her mouth and then her chin before tilting her head back with his hands around her cheeks and then placing kisses all the way down her neck to her collarbone.

"Alright, let's do this!" he said excitedly as he dropped her face and then grabbed her hand and pulled her to the edge of the water.

"Ehhh! Alright, let's make this quick!" Claire sighed nervously, not even wanting to toe the water because then she'd know for sure how cold it was.

She gave a small gasp when Quil reached over and scooped her up in his arms before he took a big step into the pool of cold water.

He gave a hiss between his teeth as the water hit him.

"Yeah, that's not toasty."

He laughed at the nervous look on Claire's face as he walked deeper into the water.

"It's not that bad." He admitted with a little shrug.

"That's because you're a hundred and eight degrees! It's going to be _that bad_ for me!" Claire insisted.

"Just stay snuggled up to me. You'll be fine." He replied unworried. "Alright, you ready?"

Claire just shook her head vigorously back and forth and clung tightly with both arms around his neck. The water was already up to his mid-thigh and Claire suddenly didn't need to know first hand exactly how cold snow run off could be in March.

"Eh, you'll be fine." Quil insisted as he swung her to the side and dropped her to her feet in the water next to him.

Claire immediately shrieked when the freezing water hit her up to her waist causing immediate goosebumps over her entire body and threw herself at Quil's chest with her arms pressed firmly between them, trying desperately to steal some of the heat radiating off his chest. Quil laughed and wrapped his arms around her, rubbing his hands up and down her back and arms to warm her.

"Just give yourself a second to adjust, it's not that bad." He assured her.

Claire nodded her head since the heat coming off his chest was currently the only thing keeping her teeth from chattering, and she didn't want to disagree with him.

Quil pulled one of his arms back from around her and used his finger to tilt her chin up so that she was looking at his face.

"You trust me?" he asked cautiously.

Claire immediately felt nervous but forced herself to swallow it down along with the lump around her throat and said, "Of course. More than anything."

It was the truth and she knew he could hear it in her voice because he smiled happily at her and kissed her nose in response before he said simply.

"Put your arms around my neck."

Claire maintained eye contact with him as she hesitantly pulled her arms away from the heat between their bodies and wrapped her arms around his neck. As soon as she did he pulled her body directly against him so that they were chest to chest and Claire immediately felt like her body was about five degrees warmer.

"Better?" he asked but she couldn't look up at him because she was too close to his chest.

"Yes!" she sighed, relieved.

Quil chuckled and said, "Good."

He was rubbing his hands up and down her bare back but stopped with one hand on her bra clasp. Claire tightened instinctively, and her eyes that had been closed with her face pressed into his chest immediately popped open. He grabbed the clasp between his fingers and gave it a twist the same way he had undone it on the bed.

Claire gasped and said, "Quil!" as she pulled back to look at him and at the same time pulling her arms down from around his neck.

Quil started laughing and pulled her back to his chest with one arm while using his other arm to pull her arms back around his neck and Claire suddenly realized that he hadn't actually unclasped it since it was still securely around her back.

"I'm just kidding! That's not what I was asking when I asked if you trust me, I just wanted to see what you'd do. Sorry." He laughed, and Claire slapped at his back with her hands around his neck. "You ready?"

Claire was just about to ask him _'for what?'_ when he held her body close to his and dived head first into the water taking Claire with him and causing her entire body to tense every single muscle when the cold hit her.

She was surprised with how quickly the overwhelming sensation of cold passed, especially while she held herself against Quil's chest while he used his arms to swim with her. By the time they broke the surface again they were ten feet away from the spot that they had been standing and Claire felt almost completely acclimated to the temperature.

She gasped as soon as her head hit the air since she hadn't been expecting to have to hold her breath.

"I can't believe you just did that!" she gasped while shoving away from him and then giggling.

He smiled hugely up at her since he clearly knew how guilty he was.

"You would never have jumped in on your own." He replied easily while treading water with one arm and trying to pull her back into him with the other.

"I know! That's because I hate being cold!" she replied angrily even though she couldn't help the smile that was across her face and let him pull her back to him as she continued to kick her legs to stay above water.

"Yeah, but you're used to it now, right? You just needed to get your head wet." He said while using his arm around her waist to tickle at her and forcing her to squirm closer into him."

"Eh." Claire hummed non-committedly.

Quil just smiled in response as they treaded water together with her in his arms. Claire let her head fall beneath the water and then came back up and used her hands to pull her hair back from her hairline to her wet ponytail.

"Hey…" She said hesitantly, "I'm sorry, Quil. That was really not cool of me."

She had finally cooled down enough (thanks to the freezing cold water) from her fiery anger and then raging hormones to think clearly enough to actually say it.

"What are you taking about?" he asked confused and pulling back so that he could look at her where his hand was left on the side of her waist instead of wrapped around back.

Claire blew out a breath causing her to spit water toward him when her mouth accidently slipped below the surface. Quil laughed in response but she shook her head and answered.

"With your mom. I'm sorry. That was so ridiculous. I'll apologize to her if you want to take me back there."

"Are you kidding?" he asked seriously.

Claire looked at him to see if he was being facetious but then shook her head in answer when he didn't seem to be.

"Claire, that was so badass." He said seriously before he suddenly started laughing hysterically. "I seriously think that was the best thing I have ever seen! Did you see her face when you threatened to slap her!?"

She smiled in response as Quil continued to laugh.

"So, you're not mad?" she asked feeling relieved.

"Mad!? Why would I ever be mad about that?" he asked in disbelieve as he used his hand on her waist to pull her back into his chest.

Claire quickly wrapped her arms around his neck since she was starting to feel winded from just trying to hold her head above the water. Quil quickly started swimming backwards taking her with him until he reached a spot a few feet away where his feet hit the bottom.

"… Because….. I tried to backhand your mom…. And then I said I was going to rip her apart…. _And_ then I called her a bitch…" Claire explained while starting to feel ashamed.

Quil started laughing hilariously again and Claire used the opportunity to lock her knees around his hips to make it easier on her arms to hold herself up. Quil wrapped his arms around and under her to hold her up while she shook with his laughter.

"I've never even heard you say 'bitch' before. That was so great!" Quil said while still laughing, clearly entertained.

"So, you really aren't upset about it at all?" Claire asked in disbelieve.

"Really. Not at all. My mom has always smacked me around a bit so that was nothing new, but I've definitely never had someone react that way to her doing it before." He answered lightly.

Claire felt her body stiffen again just thinking about Leslie smacking Quil around and seeing again the image of her slapping him across the face and immediately felt the same surge of irrational anger.

"Claire." Quil said softly, pulling back so that he could look at her like he could sense the change in her emotions. "You know she couldn't have hurt me, right? I barely felt it."

"I know. But that doesn't make it okay." She huffed agitatedly in response. "The worst part is that I'm so angry I can't even imagine reacting any differently if I could go back and do it all over again."

"What's so upsetting about it for you?" Quil asked her curiously.

Claire just gave him a disbelieving look since that was obviously a ridiculously stupid question.

"No, I'm serious. If you know it won't hurt me, why does it make you so mad?" Quil insisted.

"Quil," Claire started while shaking her head at him. "How would you feel if my mom ' _smacked me around a bit'_ even if it didn't really hurt me?"

Quil's forehead instantly crunched together as he said, "I'd never let her do that Claire."

"I know!" she replied like that proved her point.

"Okay, I don't get it" He answered, and Claire couldn't understand how he wasn't getting what she was saying.

"Quil. I would never let someone do that to you either." She answered like it was obvious.

"But….. you're my imprint, Claire. It's my job to protect you." He said like he was still confused that she would feel that way.

"Ugh! Quil!" Claire groan in exasperation as she shlumped her shoulders down in the water and looked up at the sky instead of his face because she was suddenly feeling so annoyed at his density.

He immediately started laughing at her reaction. "What!?" he asked as if he was exasperated too.

Claire blew out a slightly frustrated breath and said, "Quil. This…" she pulled one hand back from his neck to move her hand back and forth between them in the water. "… is a relationship. Which means we're partners here. Equally. You love me and guess what? I love you just as much back, Bucko. You worry about me, well what do you think I do when you run your little vampire-hunting-crusade-patrols!? You protect me… _well_ , I'll always protect you too… I've got your back." she finished emphatically while maintaining the eye contact she had been keeping with him.

He seemed speechless and a little shocked while he stared at her face.

"What?" she asked, surprised by his silence.

He smiled softly and then pulled her back to him until he was kissing her.

Claire suddenly wondered if he had pulled her under water again when she couldn't breathe and then realized that she had simply forgotten to with the way he was kissing her like he was about to go away to war or something. She pulled away quickly while gasping for air and Quil chuckled in response and kissed her nose.

"I've never had anyone love me as much as you do, Claire." He answered her simply.

Claire didn't know how to respond to that, so she put her hands on both sides of his face and looked directly into his eyes as she said,

"I do. I love you, Quil. Completely."

He smiled hugely again and then pulled her back and picked up kissing her again like she hadn't ever pulled back. Claire sighed into his mouth as her whole body seemed to melt against his. She could feel Quil's chuckle against her chest and the sensation only caused her to cling tighter to him and kiss him even more deeply.

When she let her tongue explore into his mouth to mix with his he gave a deep throated groan that rumbled all the way into his chest and caused her to immediately tighten her knees and legs around his waist. Quil's hands had been rubbing softly up and done her back as he held her up and Claire was currently so lost in the sensation of him kissing her in the cold water that it took her a second to process when his hot arm tightened around her to hold her up with one arm while his other hand trailed down to the waist band of her panties. He had stuck his thumb just inside the elastic and was running it casually back and forth in about a 5-inch trail from her one back dimple to the other.

The heat from Quil's thumb trailing across Claire's lower back in the cold water caused a sensation to run all the way up her spine. She was temporarily frozen with her hands in his hair and (embarrassingly enough) with her tongue still in his mouth. She felt like she was incapable of movement while she was experiencing the sensations he was causing her. Quil chuckled against her again and then in that moment as his thumb trailed over her tailbone everything seemed to catch up to her and all of her muscles tightened slightly but this time with a slight panic.

She immediately broke their kiss to pull back from Quil so that he had to pull his hand up to catch her back or else let her go. She was almost a foot away from him and he scrunched his eyebrows together while smiling at her, obviously curious about why she had spazzed and jumped away from him but clearly entertained by it.

" _AND_ we still need to talk about that." She said breathlessly while using her arms to tread water since she had dropped her legs from around his waist.

Quil smiled lovingly and pulled her a few inches closer.

"What? This?" he asked mischievously as he stuck his thumb back into the waistband of her panties.

Claire just nodded nervously. Quil stopped and pulled away his thumb.

"Come here, hon. I didn't mean to make you nervous." He said sincerely with his hands on her waist waiting to pull her closer and hold her up above the water again. "I was just trying to tease you, I'm not expecting anything."

"I know…" Claire said a little uncertainly as she pushed herself through the water back toward his chest. "It's just we need to talk about it before….."

Quil had his lips pressed together seriously and was nodding his head while not quite looking at her. He seemed like he was seriously thinking about something and then spoke so softly that Claire almost couldn't hear him over the waterfall.

"What is it that you're afraid of?"

Claire was surprised that he had picked up on her fear when she hadn't really done anything to indicate that to him. She shrugged a little bit as she wrapped her arms back around his neck and said,

"… I'm just….. afraid…. that we'll get caught up and do something without ever deciding that that's what we _want_ to do and then it'll be too late, and it'll be done, and the moment will be over…. I don't know, I don't even think that makes sense." Claire admitted without quite looking at him.

"No, that makes sense. It makes a lot of sense actually." Quil said reasonably and Claire looked back to smile at him gratefully. "So, we talk about it so that we know what we're doing before we ever accidentally do it."

Claire nodded her head as she blushed a little and then bit down on her lip.

"Oh, don't do that or I'll be doing all sorts of stuff to you in the moment and then talking about it later." Quil said seriously while staring at her lips.

Claire blushed more as she smiled at him. "Quil…." She said in a way that she wasn't sure if it was a warning or an invitation.

"Oh, and definitely don't do that." He said with his eyes closed.

"What? Say your name?" she asked.

"Oh yeah, especially not the way you just did." He said in a deeper voice and when he opened his eyes to look at her he snaked his arms that had been holding her waist around her back and his thumb seemed to find her waist band again.

"Quil. I'm being serious here!" Claire said in a slightly whiney tone while her heart pounded, and she felt a mixture of panic from his touch and nervousness and self-consciousness from the nature of their conversation.

"Okay, okay." Quil said soothingly as he respectfully brought his hands back to hold her waist. "I'll be serious... Let's talk about what happened earlier."

Claire blew out a sigh of relief that he was taking things as seriously as she was and didn't seem to be making fun of her for her ineptitude at talking about a potential sexual relationship. He was making her feel comfortable again and she really needed that. She nodded her head in agreement.

"Okay… so… this afternoon, we started some stuff that we hadn't talked about or planned on doing…" Quil started and Claire continued to nod, feeling grateful that he was taking the lead. "…Did you feel like I pressured you into that?"

"What!? NO! Quil! Not at all! We talked about this like six hours ago… I didn't feel pressured to do anything at all. I _wanted_ to, I showed you how much I wanted to." Claire said insistently while a huge smile broke out on Quil's face at the obvious memory of her showing him how much she wanted him.

"Yeah, you did sweetheart…. Okay, well I just wanted to make sure. So, you didn't feel pressured. Do you feel upset now that it happened?" he had started out in an almost dreamy tone but then immediately grew serious as he went back to the conversation.

Claire was silent for a moment as she considered her feelings.

"No, I'm not upset." She answered certainly.

Quil nodded like he was expecting that answer. "Would you have been upset if we had kept going instead of getting stopped when my mom came in?"

Claire was silent for another half second before she answered.

"I don't think so…" she considered for another second before shaking her head and saying, "No, not about losing my virginity. Not to you. No, that wouldn't have upset me."

Quil smiled again and leaned forward to kiss her nose like he just couldn't help himself before he asked seriously,

"Then what would have upset you about it?"

Claire pursed her lips, feeling like it was difficult to be this honest but refusing to let herself close off because of it.

"…That I didn't make a real conscientious decision. That I didn't make it special with you. That I just let it happen because in the moment I couldn't _not_ let it happen!" Claire tipped her head up and laughed as she finished speaking, thinking about how strongly she was feeling the burning force of the attraction between her and Quil before they had been interrupted.

"That makes sense, sweetheart." He assured her as he brought a hand up to rub her back soothingly. "Well we'll make sure we don't just let it happen, okay? It'll be special and _not_ in my bedroom above the garage at my mom's house." He teased with a wink at the end.

Claire laughed and nodded emphatically before he continued,

"But Claire, it's going to be special no matter what. It'll be special because it's you and me, you know that, right? It won't really matter where we are as long as it's you and me there…and not my mom." He had said it all seriously until the end when he was obviously joking about his mom being there.

Claire chuckled again.

"Yeah, I know." She said sincerely, as she put her hands on both of his cheeks and closed her eyes as she pressed her forehead against his. "That's why I wouldn't have been upset if it _had_ happened today."

Quil nodded against her before using their close connection to press his lips softly against hers for probably a full five seconds before parting his own lips and causing hers to part in return just as he pulled away.

"Okay, so then the only thing I'm concerned about is making sure that you're really ready before something like that happens." Quil said as he pulled far enough back to be able to look at her.

Claire nodded appreciatively. Quil seemed to stutter something before changing his mind and shaking his head.

"What?" she asked curiously.

He seemed to struggle for a second again before asking,

" _Do you_ feel ready for something like that?"

Claire smiled and chuckled on the inside because she could see how difficult it was for him to ask since the last thing he wanted to do was pressure her, but he clearly couldn't think of a better way to say it.

Claire blew out a breath as she seriously considered his question.

"I don't know. I mean, I feel like I don't know _how_ to know if I'm ready…. I don't feel not-ready, but I also don't know what I'm doing… I just know that I love you and that I always want to be with you and that I want to express that love in every way to you." She answered honestly.

Quil smiled lovingly at her for a second before he replied.

"You know we aren't on some sort of timeline here. We'll wait until you're one hundred percent sure that you're ready and then we'll go from there. You're so young anyways, Claire, we should probably wait twice as long just be sure it's what you want."

"Quil…" She said exasperated.

"What?" he asked confused.

"Quit talking about my age like it's a factor. You lost your virginity at sixteen too, remember?" she said hoping to never have a conversation about sex where her age was a determining factor. It made her feel like a child who was being told they needed to sit at the kids table and couldn't participate in any adult activity because they were too young to understand.

"Yeah, I was, and I regretted it." Quil said bluntly.

"You did?" Claire asked surprised.

"Yeah, one hundred percent... I wasn't ready and then I regretted it…. Which is why I want to make sure you are _absolutely_ ready before I even think about touching you ever again." Quil said sounding completely certain.

"I'm sorry, Quil... I'm really sorry that happened to you." Claire said, already feeling guilty for comparing their situations and regretting bringing his into it.

"It's okay, Claire. I just want to know where you are right now so that I'm always on the same page with you." Quil answered unaffected.

"Well…. I want to…. and soon…. But I also think I might want to take some more time to just be with you before we do…." Claire replied honestly but hesitantly.

"Okay!" he answered enthusiastically. "Let's take time! Let's take a year."

Claire laughed for a second before realizing that he wasn't joking.

"Okay, well maybe not _a year_." Claire said giving him a look like he was being a little crazy.

"Why not? I'm serious… we can make it a year. I've gone this many years without having sex, I can definitely make it one more." He replied easily.

Claire shook her head before saying, "Well I definitely don't have your self-control and I honestly don't think I could make it that long."

"Claire, all I'm saying is that we'll go as long as we need to to make sure it's right and that you're ready. You want to wait until we get married? I'm fine with that, let's wait."

"Wait… really? You'd really be willing to get married first before we had sex?" Claire asked, surprising herself for actually saying the words instead of just implying them but felt like she needed to make sure he clarified so that she was understanding _exactly_ what he was saying.

"Yeah, of course I would. I mean, I'd probably propose to you a lot _sooner_ than I would otherwise… but yeah. Is that what you want? Do you want to save yourself for marriage?" he answered sincerely.

"Me? Wha- oh….. no, I don't think so.. that's not really important to me, I just wanted to save myself for you." Claire flustered for a second since she hadn't been prepared for the question but had answered it as honestly as she could.

Quil's face was practically beaming he was smiling so hard.

"What?" Claire laughed at his reaction.

"That's just….. I don't even know how to put that into words, Claire... You saving yourself for me… it's like the best gift I could have ever gotten and it just this huge turn on that makes me want to marry you right now." Quil answered excitedly as he plastered her face with kisses.

Claire laughed again and said,

"Okay, well let's calm down for a second before you started dragging me off for Vegas anything."

"Okay, but you know that it's only a matter of time, right?" Quil answered easily.

"Matter of time for what?" Claire asked confused.

"Until I marry you." Quil answered casually.

Claire blushed just a little and bit down on her lip to keep from smiling too hard. She used her hands to brush against the stubble around his jaw and then over his ears and through his hair.

" _Well_ …. That's okay with me… it's what I was kind of hoping for actually."

Quil smiled at her in way that left no doubt in her heart that he loved her and then let go of her as he used his arms to start swimming back toward the shore, taking her along with him.

"Come on, Nino. Let's get out of here. I bet I could still beat you at a round of Mario-Kart."


	17. Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

"You think you could beat me? Which version of Mario-Kart are we talking about here?" Claire laughed as she let Quil lead her out of the water.

"Probably either!" Quil replied with a teasing wink.

Claire had been about to argue his chances at beating her in any version of Mario-Kart released within the last twenty years when a cold breeze blew past her leaving her feeling colder than she had ever been in her entire life.

She was so cold she didn't even know how to respond as every single muscle in her body tensed up painfully tight. She was still ankle deep in the freezing water but couldn't motivate herself to step out since it seemed to be colder outside of the water than in.

"Babe?" Quil asked when she didn't reply. He looked over to find the way she was so tensed and frozen even while still holding his hand. "Op!" he laughed for a second before immediately stepping up to wrap his arms around her and pulled her into the warmth of his chest.

As soon as she felt his warmth her whole body started violently shaking while her teeth started chattering.

"Wh-wh-why's it s-s-so co-co-cold?" she was barely able to chatter out against him.

"Yeah, I actually wasn't expecting it to be so bad for you." Quil admitted sounding worried. "I don't like the way your whole face is turning blue…. Come on, let's get some clothes on you."

Claire tried to shake her head but Quil just lifted her up by her butt and she immediately wrapped her legs around him, loving the heat coming from his skin as she pressed her bare legs against it.

He carried her over to the place they had left their clothes. Claire had finally warmed up enough to at least say clearly,

"I don't want to p-p-put my clothes on."

Quil just pulled back from her slightly to give her an extremely confused look as he set her on her feet.

"I want to dry off first, otherwise my underwear will just soak my clothes and then it'll be e-e-even worse." She tried to explain.

"Claire, if you wait for your underwear to dry first you'll die of hypothermia." Quil replied confidently.

Claire just rolled her eyes and shook her head at him but pulled him closer, so she could press as much of her body against the warmth of his chest as she could get to.

Quil sighed and used his warm hand to rub her back, which felt so amazing she closed her eyes and sighed into him.

"Alright, just take it off." He said like he was agreeing to something.

"What?" she replied confused.

"Just take your underwear off." He explained and then when she stiffened against him he started laughing and continued, " _And_ then put your clothes back on!"

"Just go without underwear?" Claire asked doubtfully.

Quil laughed again, causing Claire to feel it vibrate through his entire chest.

"Yes, Claire, just go without underwear. We just have to make it back home, it's not like I'm taking you out to dinner or something." He replied easily.

Claire nodded against his chest since the thought of putting on dry clothes without her freezing-wet bra and panties plastered to her skin sounded heavenly.

"So, you just want me to strip down naked in front of you?" She asked sincerely.

"Well that would be nice," Quil laughed, "But I was more thinking that if you can let go of me for two seconds, I'll turn around and do the same." He pulled his hands from her back down to her waist and gave her a little tickle, causing her to squirm as he spoke.

"So…. We'd be naked at the same time?" Claire questioned, still unsure what exactly he was saying.

It was silent for a beat before Quil finally replied dryly,

"Wow."

"What?" she asked confused.

"You are either really overthinking this or you just _really_ don't trust me." He replied easily.

"Eh!" Claire huffed as she pushed away from him. She quickly held up a warning finger as she said, "Fine, turn around! No peaking!"

Quil laughed again as he held his hands up in surrender and rolled his eyes as he turned so that his back was facing her.

"Okay, I'm watching you." Claire said warningly as she quickly slid her freezing wet panties down her legs.

"I'm not gonna look, Claire." Quil assured her while still looking the other direction as Claire carelessly dropped her wet underwear on the ground in her hast to put dry clothes back on. "…Seriously!? You're just a cruel woman."

She was in the process of hurriedly yanking her amazingly warm and dry sweats up but looked at his back after he spoke to see him looking at the ground where she had unintentionally dropped her panties right next to his bare feet.

Claire chuckled, feeling pleasantly surprised by how effected he was by her. "Um…I don't think _that_ was what was cruel." She said teasingly right before she tossed her bra over to land on top of her underwear.

Quil just groaned in response as she quickly pulled the t-shirt back over her head and then immediately yanked her jacket on and zipped it all the way up. She could see Quil bouncing slightly with pent up energy as she pulled her soaking wet hair out of its pony-tail and started twisting into a tight bun on top of her head where it wouldn't drip on her clothes.

"Okay, I'm decent. You can look now." She replied as she secured the hair tie in her hair.

Quil stopped bouncing and turned around slowly to look at her.

"Wow, sexy."

"Shut up." She huffed while rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her breasts that felt extremely exposed without a bra even though they were completely covered with two layers of clothing.

"No, I was being serious. You always look sexy but something about you all wet like that with the bare feet…" he said sincerely.

Claire smiled as she stepped closer to him. She wanted to wrap up in his warm chest again, but he was still wearing just his wet boxer-briefs and she didn't want to get wet.

"It probably just has something to do with you knowing that I'm not wearing any underwear…" She replied easily.

Quil made an extremely guilty face before he smiled causing Claire to laugh. "That might have something to do with it…." He replied.

Claire chuckled again before growing serious and saying, "But I don't like it at all."

"What?" Quil asked, sounding worried like he had upset her somehow.

"Not wearing underwear. It just feels wrong. Not like guilty, naughty wrong, like physically I'm uncomfortable and need to find a pair of panties wrong." She admitted with a shrug.

Quil just burst out laughing in response.

"See! You say things like that that are so ridiculously cute their freaking sexy." He said as he took a step closer to her.

Claire chuckled in return before saying, "Well I'm sure glad I'm what does it for you because I'm afraid your kind of out of luck otherwise."

Quil groaned as he leaned towards her. "Claire," he whispered as he bent over her, "Don't you know how much you do it for me?"

Claire swallowed, feeling both nervous and allured.

"No naked kissing." Claire whispered back as she stared at his lips only a few inches from her.

"You're not naked…. I'm not naked." Quil replied.

"Yeah, but you're still wet and I'm just barely dry." She was still whispering and still staring at his lips which is how she saw the big grin spread across his face.

"Alright, go put your shoes on back there. I'll get dressed." He said at a more normal volume.

Claire nodded as she went to walk around him, but he quickly grabbed her face and leaned in to brush a soft kiss back and forth across her lips before he let her go.

"Hey, I said no kissing!" Claire pretended to complain as she bent forward to pick up her shoes and socks off the ground.

"Well then, don't throw your bra and panties at me!" he quipped in response.

Claire playfully smacked at his arm as she went past to sit on the ground with her back toward him.

"I'm just saying, that seems like a pretty open invitation to getting yourself kissed." He said from behind her as she started wiping dirt and debris off her wet toes.

"Yeah, yeah." she said, still rolling her eyes at his teasing.

"You can peak, you know…" He said casually while she could hear him moving around and then a wet splat as his wet boxer briefs landed on the ground about a foot to the side of her.

"What?" she asked, sure that she had misunderstood him.

"You told me not to peak at you, I'm just saying I don't care if you do." He replied easily.

"Quil. I'm not gonna peak! I don't want to see you naked!" Claire answered automatically while blushing at the thought.

"Ouch. That one hurt." He said dryly from behind her while it sounded like he pulled a shirt on over his head. He quickly started laughing, "I can see you blushing from here! What? You just barely admitted that you were into my body!"

Claire pulled the neckline of her jacket up to about her ears as she ducked her face inside her collar while feeling pretty embarrassed about the entire conversation.

She suddenly jumped out of her jacket, startled as Quil's hands were suddenly on her waist. He quickly sat down behind her, fully clothed in his jeans and t-shirt and wrapped his arms around her waist while stretching each of his legs out on either side of her.

"I'm just saying," he continued as if they had been sitting there together the entire time, "You were about three seconds shy of seeing me naked this afternoon and you did not seem this embarrassed by it…"

Claire quickly pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them as she buried her face into her knees trying to hide as much as physically possible while still being caught in his embrace.

"Quil!" she whined while continuing to hide in embarrassment. He laughed in response and held her tighter against his chest.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop teasing ya. I promise I'm not going to make you see me naked…. Only if you want to. It's fine, I'm really not shy."

Claire just bit down on her lip and felt her whole face heat against her knees as she thought about the idea of actually admitting outloud to wanting to see him naked.

"Please stop." She whispered almost completely mortified now.

He just chuckled and gave her waist another little squeeze before bending down to kiss a spot beneath her ear that she could feel was red with her unusually strong blush.

"Alright, I'm sorry. I'll stop…." He said sincerely, seeming to feel guilty because of her level of discomfort. "You can look at me now."

She just shook her face into her knees still feeling way too embarrassed to look up at him.

"Claire." Quil said seriously. "I don't like not being able to see your face. Please?"

Claire shook her head again and added a shrug.

Quil pulled his arms back until his hands were around her waist and then started tickling her sides to try to get a reaction out of her but Claire just curled into a tighter ball.

"Claire!" Quil whined. "Come on, let me look at you. I love you. You know I was just messing with you."

Claire blew out a deep breath into her knees. "I don't want you to see me like this." She admitted reluctantly.

"See you like what?" he asked obviously confused while snaking his arms back around her waist to hold her securely.

"… Blushing so much after talking about seeing you naked." She barely whispered.

She could feel Quil's silent chuckle against her back but was grateful he wasn't outright laughing at her anymore.

"Well….. how about if I make you feel better about it?" he asked softly.

"How?" she asked doubtfully.

"I could just make you forget about it until you feel better." He continued.

"How would you do that?" she asked intrigued. She had an idea where he was going with this but was just grateful she wasn't blushing from the thought.

She was expecting him to reply but instead he answered by bending his face over her neck and kissing the spot under her ear he had kissed when she blushed.

This time when he kissed it, he didn't pull away. He let his lips brush back and forth softly while he breathed and then softly blew on it. Claire felt her entire body start to relax in response and instinctually start to lean back into him. Ironically it felt like her blush seemed to fade away from her at the same time that her whole body seemed to heat from his kiss.

Quil pressed his lips against her neck with more pressure and then parted his lips against her skin while just barely using his tongue to brush against the spot on her neck he was kissing. He slowly seemed to taste from behind her ear to a few inches down her neck before he put his lips back against her skin and then blew air softly all the way back up the trail he had just made causing goosebumps to erupt seemingly randomly all over her entire body.

Without having to think about it, Claire loosened her hold around her legs and lifted her left arm to reach around behind her and run her hand through his hair above her. She wasn't even trying to cooperate she just couldn't not reach back to touch him.

Quil continued to kiss against her neck as she slowly started to pull her body up from against her legs to lean back against him as he kissed her skin. She had had her eyes closed since she had started blushing and she didn't open them now when she turned her face into him as his lips hit her jaw bone and then started moving down toward her chin. By the time Claire was completely sitting up, leaning into him Quil's lips where just barely touching the corner of her lips where he froze, just barely brushing against her and then sighed so the air coming out of his mouth hit her lips and cheek.

Claire instinctually turned into him so that her lips were against his but then waited to see what he would do with them. He started following the same pattern he had used on her neck against her lips. Barely brushing softly as he moved his mouth side to side against her lips before he parted his lips and then softly brushed his tongue against her bottom lip for a few seconds before pulling back and blowing a soft breath against it, sending a warm kind of chill all the way down her spine. Claire shivered against him and he pulled a hand from her waist to cup her cheek as he brought his lips back to hers and pressed softly for a second before pulling away and then returning, he kissed her ever so softly three more times and Claire opened her lips against his every time he parted his before he pulled back. Finally, after the fourth kiss, he pressed his forehead softly to hers and sighed softly in contentment.

"You. Are….. very good at that." She sighed breathlessly with her eyes still closed.

"Feel better?" he asked softly.

She just nodded slightly against him and he gave her another one of his soft kisses, parting his lips at the last second before he pulled away again.

"Good. I love you."

Claire felt her smile lifting her cheeks and pressing her right cheek into his palm. Quil chuckled in response causing her to bounce against his chest. He leaned forward and quickly kissed her forehead.

"You forgive me?" he asked with his lips still pressed to her forehead.

Yes, of course I forgive you." Claire sighed as she closed her eyes and leaned her head in against his neck.

She wasn't actually mad at Quil nearly so much as she was mad at herself for being so ridiculous. She would of course, eventually have to see Quil naked, so why when he brought it up did she suddenly feel so nervous and completely shut down?

They sat snuggled up together on the edge of the water for a few moments in contented silence.

"Hey, you okay?" Quil asked after Claire had given an almost imperceptible shiver.

"Yeah," Claire sighed. "Just a rough week. I'm trying to shake it off, but today has been a bit….."

"…of a roller-coaster?" Quil finished for her with a laugh.

"Exactly." Claire agreed with a smile she knew he couldn't see since her face was still pressed into his neck.

She leaned forward and pressed a kiss under his jaw, wanting to make sure he knew that all her highs today had been because of him. He gave a little shake like he got chills from her kiss which caused her smile to grow.

"Why was your week so rough?" he asked. "You seemed like school has been getting pretty bad…. I know you said that the dean hasn't bothered you again but are you sure, Claire? You aren't just telling me that to make me feel at ease while something else is going on?"

Claire bit her lip nervously in response to this question. She hesitated just a moment longer than she should have, and she could see that Quil was getting ready to say something else when she quickly answered,

"No, I promise it wasn't the dean. He hasn't approached me since that morning at my locker and Bennett's basically walking me to all of my classes now just to make sure I'm okay."

The truth was that while she hadn't had a single problem with the dean since the school had opened an investigation against him, she had been asked to prom no less than twelve times. The football team was becoming such a persistent problem that Bennett was currently begging her on a daily basis to tell Quil about the Claire-Young-Prom-Night-Virginity pool.

Claire knew that it was immature and possibly even stupid to hide it from him, she was even starting to see the necessity of getting him involved if things didn't resolve themselves quickly but she was just convinced that it would all blow over way before anyone was actually seriously thinking of prom and in the meantime she really didn't want to involve Quil knowing that there was a very serious chance he would literally kick the crap out of the entire football team and then relentlessly beg her until she pulled out of school and decided to finish online.

"Well if it isn't the dean then what is it?" Quil asked sounding confused but obviously picking up on the fact that she wasn't telling him something.

Claire blew out an exasperated breath before saying,

"It really all stems back to Macy. She kind of told a bunch of people some stuff about me that Bennett told her in confidence and since I am already currently a major social pariah it was just more fuel to throw on the fire. That's why Bennett's been sticking to my side so much. He's actually the only friend I have left at school…. No one else will actually talk to me in fear of being ostracized by association."

Quil tightened his hold around her waist and she felt his body stiffen around her as he stared at the water in front of them. Claire could immediately tell that he was thinking about how she should just leave school and not look back.

He blew out what sounded like a growl of frustration.

"Macy….. Why would she do that!?" he asked obviously feeling less than loving feelings towards her currently.

Claire shrugged around him, "I sometimes wish I knew… She's definitely insecure and obviously feels threatened by me….. I don't think the fact that Bennett broke up with her is helping her feelings towards me…especially now that people are starting to say that we're back together since we're spending so much time together again…"

"Ugh! She's lucky she's a girl or I would seriously beat the shit out of her." was Quil's quick and angry reply.

"No, don't talk like that." Claire said quickly and immediately felt Quil's distaste at her reply. "I mean she definitely deserves it…. I want to beat the crap out of her myself… like really seriously throw down hold-my-earrings-rip-her-stupid-glue-on-extensions-out beat the crap out of her, but then I just think about you and imagine how much it must hurt Bennett when I even think something like that."

Quil was completely silent for a second before giving a small chuckle.

"You're such a good person, Claire, and you're an amazing friend."

Claire was surprised by what was obviously his sincere praise and bit her lip and shrugged a little since she wasn't sure how to respond and didn't completely feel like she deserved the praise.

"No really, Claire. Even with the imprint relationship in play, you have been a better friend to Bennett then Macy was a girlfriend. Why do you think he didn't hesitate to stay loyal to you while dumping her even though it hurts him?"

"Bennett is a great friend too, he always has my back and we're both kind of stuck in this crappy situation together." Claire replied.

"I know, baby girl, I know." Quil assured her as he used his left arm wrapped around her to rub up and down her side soothingly. "But I know Bennett is sure glad that it's _you_ he's stuck in this situation with and not her. He even feels guilty about it. He knows he should never wish a situation like this on you but he's extremely grateful you're his partner in crime instead of drudging through the hard times with Macy."

"Really? You heard him think all of that?" Claire asked surprised.

"Yeah, I did. I probably shouldn't even tell you about it since it's basically an evasion of his privacy, but I just wanted you to understand how great of a person you really are." Quil said confidently.

"Well I honestly just feel lucky for the people I have in my life…. Especially my number one person." Claire replied before she leaned up to quickly place another kiss against jaw.

Quil was quiet as they sat together for a few seconds before he asked hesitantly, "…Can I ask you something, Claire?"

"Of course." She replied instantly, surprised he felt like he had to ask.

"What was it that Bennett told Macy about you that she spread around?" Quil asked softly while still staring at the water.

Claire was immediately glad they weren't looking at each other and that she didn't have to make eye contact while answering. She quickly cleared her throat, feeling somewhat awkward before she admitted,

"…She um… She just…. told some people that I'm still virgin….. And some of the football team is giving me a hard time about it…"

"Seriously?" Quil asked sounding disgusted, "That's completely ridiculous. Do I need to go make my opinion on the subject of your virginity clear to some people?"

"No. It's okay really. Bennett never lets anyone give me too hard a time about it … but then again that sort of makes it worse…" she said quickly without thinking through her words.

"What do you mean? Why would that make it worse?" he asked sounding confused like he needed to teach Bennett how to beat the crap out of some football players.

Claire bit her lip again, immediately wishing she hadn't said that last part, she had just been in a hurry to reassure him so that he wouldn't start taking the football team out one by one.

"Well….. It's ….. He…. You just have to know…." Claire hemmed, and hawed feeling completely flustered until Quil simply said,

"What is it, Claire?"

"It wasn't just that she told them I'm a virgin so much as she told them the explicit and horribly embarrassing details of my virginity…" Claire tried to explain while feeling another over heated blush begin to crawl up her neck.

"I'm sorry, what does that even mean? Being a virgin is nothing to be ashamed of Claire, you shouldn't feel embarrassed by that." He replied.

Claire nodded in agreement but continued to feel her blush creep up since she knew she needed to be honest but wishing she didn't have to admit this to him.

"Well…. They only know for sure that I'm a virgin because Macy told them that Bennett get to second base with me after the Midway game and we never went any farther than that…." Claire said breathlessly as tears filled her eyes.

The memory of that night had been a sweet moment between two first loves that Claire thought she would keep in private for the rest of her life but instead had been spread in detail through her entire school.

Claire bit her lip so hard that it started to sting while she felt Quil stiffen around her. He didn't say anything for a moment and the tears that Claire had been holding in her eyes quickly started to spill out the corners as she tightly squeezed them shut, hoping she could somehow will this moment away.

"Are you serious?" He asked in a toneless voice.

"Yes." Claire admitted, and her voice cracked a little.

"Alright, _who_ can I beat the shit out of? Someone seriously needs the shit beat out of them for this, if it's not Macy than you need to give me the name of the biggest guy on the football team and I'll beat the shit out of him instead." Quil said quickly while tightening his hold around her waist.

Claire gave a small watery chuckle as she started wiping the tears off her cheeks with the heel of her hand.

"I'm sorry, Claire." He said so softly and sincerely it made her want to cry again. He quickly used his grip on her to pull her tighter to him as he kissed the top of her head lovingly and then leaned into her to kiss a stray tear off her cheek.

Claire just nodded since there wasn't a lot to say and they sat in silence together. She was finally starting to feel better about the whole thing as she sat in Quil's arms and eventually turned from facing to the side into his neck to facing the same direction and looking out at the water. It took her completely by surprise when Quil pulled back a moment later to look at her as he asked,

"Bennett really got to second base!?"

He sounded in complete disbelief.

Claire couldn't bring herself to answer or look at him but could feel herself blushing again and bit her lip in response.

"Damn! How'd I not know this, already!? _I_ haven't even gotten to second base!" he replied sounding shocked and disappointed.

Claire looked at him to say,

"I didn't know what you knew…. With you being in Bennett's head I kind of figured you'd seen just about everything and if you hadn't, well…. I just sort of wanted…"

"To keep it to yourself?" he finished for her.

And she shrugged in agreement. She was lost in her own thoughts about it for a moment before she looked back at him and cautiously asked, "Are you mad?"

"Am I mad that Bennett touched your boob? Hell yeah… I'm ridiculously, jealously, pissed and irrational right now… I don't want another guy to touch you ever… or even to look at you… but am I mad _at you_? No. Never. Even I'm not that irrational." He answered flippantly.

Claire blushed in response before saying, "I don't think it's too irrational…. I mean I was already your imprint… I knew I was your soulmate… I understand why you would be upset that I did that."

"Claire, honestly the way I see it is that whatever you did with Bennett when you were his girlfriend is none of my business and I have no right to hold it against you. I mean, I was ….. a real piece of work before you found me… I treated women like they were disposable… I was selfish and disrespectful and frankly I have even less experience then you do when it comes to loving, healthy, physical relationships… plus, let's not forget that stupid stunt with the almost-hookup between Leah and I… Oh and my crowning moment; the drunken booty-call. If you can see past all of that stupid shit to see the guy underneath the loves you desperately and still love him… well how could you think that _this_ …." he seemed to struggle to find a word for a second before settling on, "… _Blip_ on your radar is even something that I would need to know about?" Quil assured her and he said it so casually that by the end Claire was giggling.

"Maybe we just each have our own bit of history." Claire mused objectively, feeling grateful he wasn't upset by it.

"Um… ya think? Only mine's a history textbook and yours is a hallmark card!" Quil said sarcastically.

"It doesn't matter." Claire said certainly.

"It doesn't matter?" Quil asked like he wanted her to be sure.

"It doesn't matter." She repeated confidently, "It was all just part of our journey to each other. It's just part of our story and none of it matters now that we're together and won't ever be with anyone else."

"Yeah, you're basically too incredible to ever pass up." Quil replied easily.

"I am pretty incredible." Claire teased.

"Yeah you are!" Quil yelled enthusiastically making Claire jump at his volume.

Claire giggled and then grew serious again before saying,

"But hey, please don't mention this to Bennett, okay? I know you're going to want to bring it up as some sort of power play to show him how much it doesn't matter that it happened because I'm with you now and any moment with him could never possibly compete but I'm asking you not to do that, alright?"

Quil opened his mouth a full three times to respond before closing it again each time.

"Okay." He said simply a few minutes later and Claire knew that he meant it.

She didn't even respond as they stood up together, grabbed their wet underwear and then started the hike back up to the car.

Claire held tight to Quil's hand and let him basically drag her up the slope that felt much steeper going up then it had going down, by about the halfway point Quil just sort of gave Claire a yank and when she fell sideways he leaned forward and scooped her up over his back. He carried her the rest of the way to the car piggy back style.

The drive home was peaceful. Claire was starting to feel exhausted from her hectic week on top of her crazy day. They were almost home when Quil asked her where she wanted him to take her.

"Can we just go back to your place? Rachel already texted me and my mom's the only one home."

"Sure. But why are we avoiding your mom?" he asked confused as he steered the car in the direction of his garage.

"Eh… I don't know. I can't really describe it, but I hate being alone with her…. It's like we're both hiding things from each other and there's way more being said without words than with words except I have no idea what's actually being said…. I don't know, plus she's still not happy we're dating… so yeah." Claire confessed while thinking about how she would much rather spend the rest of her afternoon alone with Quil than awkwardly avoiding her mom at home.

"Really? She's still not cool with it? Your dad has really seemed to get behind the idea." Quil asked, sounding disappointed as he reached across the console and grabbed her hand.

"Yeah, I mean I think they kind of always knew it was inevitable which is why I have no idea why mom is being so weird about it." Claire admitted as they pulled up to the shop.

"Well has she said anything about it?" Quil asked as he put the car in park.

Claire suddenly started fidgeting with her seatbelt and busying herself getting out of the car trying to avoid answering the question and hoping he wouldn't notice. Quil quickly followed and then went ahead to unlock the side door.

"Come on, what'd she say?" he asked enticingly as he held the door open for her.

"Um… just something about you actually being closer to her age than mine…" Claire admitted with a shrug, trying for nonchalance.

After a second of silence Claire realized Quil had stopped moving behind her. She was just about to walk up the stairs but turned around to find him standing in the middle of the garage.

"Quil?" Claire asked worried and immediately regretting telling him the truth.

She saw him raise a shaking hand to run through his hair in the dim light.

"Shit." he muttered so quietly Claire thought he must be speaking to himself. "I am… I'm basically your parents age."

Claire gave a small laugh as she walked back to him. "No, you aren't! They're still ten years older than you. And who cares if you're older than me. It's not a big deal. Really!"

Claire stepped up and put a reassuring kiss on his cheek as she grabbed his hand and then started pulling him toward the stairs.

"Yeah, Claire, but I'm like old enough to be your dad." He said faintly without really looking at her. His hands were still shaking, and he seemed really out of it.

Claire started laughing again. "No, you aren't!" Claire gave his arm an extra tug to get him to take a step up the stairs.

"I sort of am." He said taking a step forward and finally seeming to come back to the present.

"No, you aren't. Am I old enough to have a kid?" She asked reasonably as she led the way up the stairs.

"NO! Of course not." He answered automatically.

"Exactly. And I'm older than you were when I was born so there you go." Claire said simply as she opened the unlocked door to his apartment and went inside.

"I guess that's true." He admitted a little hesitantly.

Claire turned around to walk backwards as she dragged him into his own apartment. As soon as the door closed behind him she stepped up to him and stood on her toes to take his face in her hands.

"Quil, it's really not a big deal. There isn't a problem, my mom is just being difficult because of her own crap but my dad would never let me date you if there were."

Quil nodded his head and swallowed while he wrapped his hand around her waist.

"Doesn't it freak you out though?" he asked sounding worried.

"No, not at all. I already told you I don't think of you that way. You're just my Quil, the same guy you've always been and that I've always loved and wanted to be with." Claire answered easily.

He pulled up his eyebrows and gave her a curious smile, "You've always loved me?"

Claire rolled her eyes good-naturedly and said, "Of course I've always loved you, you know that."

"But you've always wanted to be with me?" he asked sounding more interested in that line of conversation than Claire would prefer.

Claire could feel another blush creeping up at the thought but took a deep breath to force it back down. She gave a casual non-committal shrug in response.

"Claire…" Quil said with a teasing tone in his voice. She felt his hands pull away from around her back to move to her waist and he gave her a small tickle as he asked, "Did you have a crush on me!?"

Claire rolled her eyes, determined to down play the situation and act as cool as possible, otherwise for the rest of their lives he would hold over her head the fact that she had ever pined for him.

"Quil, I've known my whole life that I was eventually supposed to marry you and have your babies… So yeah, at some point I accepted it and just waited for you to notice me." Claire answered easily and was relieved with how unconcerned she sounded.

"You were waiting for me to notice you, huh?" Quil asked with another tickle obviously getting a kick out of the conversation.

Claire laughed in response to his question and his tickles.

"Yeah! Why do you think all of Leah's teasing never bothered me? I knew she was right!"

"Hmm, Look at you little gold-digger, going for the older man!" Quil immediately teased.

"Um… that's really not how I remember it." Claire answered easily.

"Well that's how I remember it… Who kissed who first, hmm?" he said like it was indisputable.

Claire started laughing at that harder than anything else even though he hadn't even tickled her when he said it.

"Well who was more nervous for that kiss?" Claire asked remembering the way Quil closed his eyes and seemed to hold his breath before Claire kissed him at the table in that very apartment.

"Probably me." Quil admitted with a smile and a shrug. "A fifteen-year-old just told me she wanted to kiss me and if I didn't let her she was going to kiss somebody else first!"

Claire laughed at his explanation. And gave her own shrug in response,

"You could have refused….. Well I guess not so much with that first one. I kind of sneak attacked you with the first one."

"Yeah, you definitely did!" Quil laughed before saying softly, "I didn't mind too much though."

"Well you must not have because I haven't been able to get you to quit kissing me since!" Claire replied causing Quil to laugh again.

"I think it was all a part of your master plan." He said confidently.

"Oh yes, my master gold-digging plan to get to all of this." Claire said while gesturing all around her at the small studio apartment.

"Wha- Hey! You don't like my apartment?" Quil asked pretending to be offended while tickling Claire as punishment.

"I love your apartment, it's just not very much gold-digger motivation…. It must have just been you I liked." Claire said easily.

"Ahh…" Quil said like that explanation was suddenly a revelation for him. "See I thought it was for my car."

"No it was! I really just like the Camaro more than anything. But see Bennett's muscle car was vintage so that's what gave him the upper hand." Claire replied immediately.

Quil gasped before he immediately bent over and threw Claire over his shoulder.

"Oh, I know you didn't just say that to me!"

"You seriously never noticed that I only came back to you _after_ Bennett's car was totaled in the accident!?" Claire continued to tease from upside down before she realized Quil was carrying her into the bathroom. "Quil, what are you doing?! You better not be doing what I think you're doing!"

Quil just laughed a little manically as he walked directly into the shower and turned it on before turning around so that the stream of initially cold water immediately hit Claire's backside and dripped all the way down her neck and head.

"Quil!" Claire screamed as it hit her causing him to laugh harder than ever as she tensed against him. "I think this constitutes waterboarding." She spluttered out from upside down as water continued to fill her mouth and she continued to spit it directly onto Quil's jeans.

He finally turned around and set her on her feet, so they were both in the line of fire standing in the small shower before he turned and shut the water off. Claire was backed against the wall with all of her now soaking wet clothes stuck to the wall of the shower.

"You're in trouble, Mister. These were my dry clothes!"

Quil smiled, he was only wet on his one side facing the shower and various parts of his back. He stepped closer, closing the small gap between them as he put his hand on Claire's wet waist.

"I happen to like seeing you all wet and disheveled." He said confidently as he started to lean in to kiss her.

She pulled back before he could reach her lips and said, "Well I happen to like being try and presentable."

Quil's smile lit his face as he bit down on his lip to clearly keep from laughing.

"You have some real control issues, you know that?" he said easily as he came even closer so that his nose was touching hers and used his free hand to cup her face and keep her from pulling away again.

"Hmm it must be because I was micromanaged by this psychotic werewolf my entire life." Claire replied feigning frustration.

Quil's face remained stoic as he shook his head side to side while making his nose smack against hers.

"Not your entire life. Just since you were two." He said seriously and finally Claire broke from her serious expression, she couldn't contain her smile anymore. Apparently, the smile was the sign he had been waiting for because before she even had a chance to reply his lips were against hers.

The smile faded off Claire's lips as she returned Quil's kiss. She was quickly brought back to that afternoon as she almost instantaneously lost herself to his kiss. His hand was already cupped to her face and she knew that he didn't mean to do it when he made her feel how much he wanted her. It was so intensely strong for him Claire probably would have felt it even without him touching her.

Her head was spinning as he kissed her, and she tried to get her bearings while feeling his almost complete need for her. His hand on her waist moved down to her hip where her shirt was scrunched up and his palm brushed about an inch of skin between her jacket/shirt and her sweat pants. The increased connection of his skin against hers only intensified the transfer of his desire to her. She didn't even feel it happening but suddenly his hand was on her waist again but this time against her skin so that she could feel his entire warm palm and fingers that had slid effortlessly under her shirt.

Claire felt her consciousness seeming to slide away in a sensation similar to falling asleep. All her awareness was simply fading away and all she could feel was Quil. That was all there was. Just Quil, and how much he wanted her and how much she wanted him. She barely managed a single rational thought that was if they didn't stop now they wouldn't stop at all. But she didn't really want to stop either. Quil seemed to sense the decision point as well because he pulled his lips back from hers which was somewhat of a feat since when he slowly pulled back she just moved forward and followed him.

Quil was smiling and panting once he finally managed to break contact from her lips, but Claire could still feel his desire and it was webbing out in debilitating sensations from his touch on her skin and then coursing out through her entire body until her legs shook from it. She couldn't stop her need for him and when he pulled back she continued to step up and place sporadic kisses against his smiling lips.

He was breathing heavily as he said, "We should-" he stopped to return her kiss. "-probably stop."

He blew out a huge breath like he was trying to regain his composure. Claire couldn't think straight or even figure out what he meant. She couldn't process his words when the feelings stemming from his hands where telling herself something completely different, and they definitely weren't saying stop. Claire simply responded, she knew he had basically asked her a question and she wasn't sure if he had asked it with his words or his touch but she was answering it when she brought her hands up to press her palm against his cheek and run her fingers through the hair at the back of his neck as she brought her kiss down from his lips to his chin and jawline and then down his neck.

She realized that her control had slipped, and her desire had surged out of her to him when he suddenly shoved her up against the wall she had leaned away from when he had pulled back. It was clear that whatever control he had been holding on to seemed to be gone when her back hit the shower wall so hard it would have hurt if she could feel anything resembling pain in a moment where her every vein felt like it had desire and heat coursing through it, though the heat may have been stemming from Quil himself since it felt like he was everywhere so that the only thing around her that wasn't him was the cold shower wall against her wet back.

Quil's hand twitched up against her side so that his thumb was brushing against the skin of her ribcage and his hand seemed to close half the distance of the two inches it had been from the bottom of her exposed breast. The sensation simultaneously made her want him more while sending a sheer panic screaming through her brain. She stiffened against his neck that she had been kissing and blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.

"I'm not going to let you get to second base just because Bennett did."

Quil stiffened against her in immediate response but didn't move.

"I know." He said simply like he was confused.

"Well he…. Just… we never…. It wasn't….. We never did any under the clothes stuff." Claire finally blurted out after flustering for several seconds.

Quil let out a sigh that was more like blowing out a huge breath of air and pulled his hand that was on her waist out from under her shirt.

"Did I just freak you out?" he asked calmly as he set his hand against the shower wall so that she was still pinned between his arms.

Claire didn't realize until he spoke that she was shaking.

She bit her lip and tried desperately to think of a way to deny it before she simply shrugged and said honestly, "Maybe a little bit."

Quil blew out another breath before he leaned in and kissed her forehead, "Sorry, baby girl. I really tried to stop before you got me too worked up."

She nodded since she knew it was the truth.

"You just didn't stop before you got _me_ too worked up." She answered with a small smile.

Quil chuckled a little darkly before he gave her another kiss on her cheek and then stepped away from her.

"Sorry." He said regretfully, and Claire could tell how guilty he felt. Her hands were still on his face and around his neck, so she quickly stepped up and place a chaste kiss on his lips.

"It's okay, I know you tried to stop and I just reeled you right back in."

Quil smiled brightly and chuckled, "That you definitely did."

She placed her forehead against his chin and took a few calming breathes, trying to slow her heartbeat.

"Alright, babe. If you want to throw your clothes over the shower door, I'll throw them in the dryer and get you some clean clothes… or I can just wait outside if you prefer…" Quil finished more uncertainly.

Claire just smiled before she pushed him out of the shower and he let the door close behind him.

"I don't know if you're just really over thinking this, or just don't trust yourself at all." She teased as she unzipped her jacket and then threw it over the fogged glass door to him.

She heard Quil's chuckle as she stripped off his shirt she was wearing and tossed it over before doing the same with her sweat pants. It wasn't until she saw the sweat pants she had hung over the shower door pull away that she realized she was completely naked on one side of the door while Quil stood on the other with all her clothes, her heart hammered against her chest in response.

She took a deep breath to force her voice to sound normal and said,

"I'm just gonna take a shower real quick."

She was relieved with how casual she sounded and not like she was totally freaking out that if he wanted to, he could just open the door and see her. She reached up and yanked out her wet bun so that her hair was falling over her and offering some small amount of coverage.

"'Kay, I'll bring you a clean towel after I throw your clothes in the dryer." Quil said and she could see his outline through the glass door backing away.

Claire turned on the shower before she let herself blow out a shaky breath of relief because she knew he would hear it otherwise. As the hot water started pouring over her she felt decidedly less tense. It seemed like she had spent so much of the day wet and cold that washing her hair in the hot shower was an incredible relief.

"Here ya go." Quil said easily as he threw a towel over the edge of the glass door, Claire jumped about a foot in the air and then giggled at herself since she had been so relaxed and focused on washing Quil's shampoo out of her hair that she had completely forgotten he said he was going to come back in.

"Thanks." She chuckled.

"You alright?" he asked, and she could hear the laugh in his voice.

"Yeah, you just startled me. I'm not used to anyone coming in while I'm in the shower. Were you going to shower? I'm almost done."

He didn't answer for a second and Claire was wondering if he had left since she couldn't see out the shower door with the towel hanging over it.

Quil cleared his throat before he said, "Yeah, I've got some clean clothes out here for you, you can get dress out here while I shower."

"Thanks, sounds good." She replied casually as she started rubbing his body wash all over her body trying to clean the feeling of the freezing water from the waterfall off her. She knew it was in her head but something about it made her feel slimy somehow, she was definitely grateful that Quil had managed to find something clean for her to wear so that she didn't have to put all of her same clothes back on.

It only took her another minute to wash all the body wash off and then shut off the shower. When she pulled the towel off the door at the same time she was squeezing out her hair she realized that Quil had left the bathroom door open. She quickly dried her hair as much as she could and ran the towel over her body before wrapping it around herself and securing it tightly as she stepped out. She couldn't see Quil from where she was standing in the outside of the shower, but she could hear the dryer running.

She stepped out of the bathroom but realized the apartment was empty. She crossed to the front door and opened it as she said, "Quil?"

He was below in the shop cleaning some of his tools on his work bench but looked up at soon as she said his name.

"Oooh, it's lucky I'm alone down here." He said easily with a smile on his face and Claire immediately blushed that she hadn't thought of the possibility of someone else being down there when she had come out in a towel.

"What are you doing down there?" she asked confused as he made his way back up to her.

"I was trying to give you some privacy. You seemed like you might need some space." he answered easily.

"I don't need space. I never need space from you." Claire answered immediately and probably a little too eagerly.

Quil smiled in response as he reached her and placed a quick kiss on her lips,

"Oh yeah, I definitely think you're crushing on me."

Claire just shook her head at him and smiled happily as she backed her way into the apartment.

"Your showers free, and I only left half my hair in it." She replied.

"Oh, perfect. I was hoping for at least half." He teased as he stripped his half-wet shirt off and threw it in his hamper. "I put some clothes on the bed for you there."

Claire looked over to see a black t-shirt and a gray pair of his boxer-briefs. She picked them up and turned to him as she gave him a questioning look. He was pulling another pair of underwear out of his drawer and looked up at her when she turned toward him.

"It's that or commando again. Sorry but I definitely don't have any spare pair of panties lying around here for you." He replied casually as he started making his way toward the bathroom in just his jeans.

Claire smiled in response and shook her head as she answered, "I'd be a lot more concerned if you did."

He laughed as he went into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. After a second Claire heard the shower turn on and turned to face the bed before she tentatively dropped her towel on the floor and then pulled his boxers on.

They felt a little odd, like a pair of her work out shorts that didn't quite fit right and were maybe on backwards (since there was definitely more material than needed in the front) but they felt about a million times better than when she had been wearing her sweats without underwear. She quickly picked up her towel and ran it through her hair and then yanked her fingers through it before putting on his t-shirt. It was so big on her that it covered almost all of his boxer-briefs she was wearing that went to her midthigh. He hadn't left any pants for her, but she knew he would never have something that would come close to fitting her and since his shirt was so big she was feeling sufficiently clothed.

She had originally planned on digging through the kitchen to find some food for them, but she was surprised by how relaxed and comfortable she felt as soon as she was wearing clean, dry clothes. She was exhausted, and it hit her hard as she brought the collar of the shirt she was wearing to her nose and snuggled into it as she took a big whiff of Quil's laundry detergent. It smelled really pleasant but then she took a look at his bed and knew what she really wanted to smell.

She didn't even pause before she crawled into Quil's bed and pulled the covers around her. She immediately felt warm and snuggly as she stayed on his side of the bed and laid on his pillow letting her wet hair fan out all around her. She flipped to her side so that her back was to the bathroom door and then inhaled deeply into his pillow.

The smell of Quil overwhelmed her instantly and she felt like her body was melting into the mattress as every muscle relaxed when she smelled him. She just laid there feeling so warm and contented as she smelled him on his bedding all around her until she only semi-woke up a couple minutes later when she felt Quil's warm hand on her hip moving her forward a few inches across the bed as he kissed softly into her neck and then snuggled up to hold her from behind. He let go of her hip and wrapped his arm around her waist as he moved her wet hair so that it was lying above them on the pillow. He buried his face into her neck and kissed it quickly again before softly saying,

"The only thing that smells better than you with your shampoo and bubble bath is you with _my_ shampoo."

Claire wrapped her arms around his on her waist and intertwined their fingers as she gave a sigh of contentment. She heard him give a small moan right by her ear before he muttered sleepily,

"I wish you would just move in already."

Claire smiled to herself in response as his breathing evened out and he clearly fell asleep. She rubbed her bare legs softly against his and sighed at how warm they felt before she took a more concentrated breath of his scent around her and fell back to sleep.

* * *

 *** Hey Guys! Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up. It's probably one of my favorites and I'm hoping to hear some good reactions to it! Let me know what you think and I promise that I'll have the next chapter up quicker this time! I'm already working on it!**

 **xoxo**


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Somehow even in her sleep Claire was fully aware of Quil's scent surrounding her. She had always loved the way that he smelled somehow woodsy and warm almost like a sweet-smelling campfire but with a hint of soap added in, but for the last few weeks the effect of his scent had been intensifying for her. She just relaxed peacefully wrapped in his arms inhaling him and being lulled into a deeper sleep because of it.

"Quil, dude, we need you to- Whoa-" a voice forcefully yanked Claire awake along with the sound of the door opening.

She forced herself to open her eyes but was just looking at the empty kitchen-living area of Quil's apartment with his arms still wrapped around her and his face buried into her neck with their legs still intertwined.

"Wow, I guess they couldn't resist a little afternoon delight…"

There was smacking sound followed by another too familiar voice, "Dude, shut up, that's _Claire_!"

Claire pulled back in Quil's arms to turn and look behind her right as Collin replied enthusiastically and with implication in his voice,

"Yeah, that's _Cla-ire_!"

He made her name into two syllables.

He was standing in the open doorway with his hand still on the knob. He had a look of intrigue on his face and seemed maybe even a little impressed, with Brady standing to the side and little behind him looking a little bit disturbed. As soon as Claire turned and made eye contact with them Brady looked away uncomfortably while Collin let out a low whistle and said,

"Damn, Claire."

She didn't even have to look down at herself to know she was only wearing Quil's shirt and boxer-briefs and that he was still tangled up around her in only the boxer-briefs he'd put on after his shower. She groaned loudly as she threw her head back against the pillow and then grabbed the sheets that Quil had clearly push away and yanked them all the way above her head,

"You have got to be kidding me." She moaned, while Quil finally started stirring next to her.

She had pushed his hands off her and pulled her legs away when she had reached for the sheets so that they weren't touching. She felt Quil reaching for her, wrapping his arms back around her as he grumbled sleepily,

"Just go back to sleep. I'll deal with your parents later."

It was probably about the worst possible thing he could say in the situation.

"Quil!" Claire yelled as she flopped the sheet off her face to turn to look at him in shocked frustration.

"What?" he asked suddenly more awake and obviously confused that she was yelling at him.

He was looking at her but squinting his eyes like he was having a hard time looking into the light from the window behind her.

"You have guests!" she said as she used her hand next to him to gesture in frustration towards the door behind him.

Quil just raised his eyebrows at her before turning to look over his shoulder to find Brady and Collin in the doorway.

"What the hell!?" Quil replied while sounding annoyed.

"You're a lucky man, Quil." Collin said suggestively as Brady laughed before mumbling, "Dude." like he knew Collin was asking for trouble.

Claire pulled the sheet back over her face to hide her irritation and embarrassment while she felt Quil quickly rolled off the bed in one motion. She didn't look but heard a lot of smacking when Quil reached them and then the door snap shut behind them. She heard what sounded like a lot of grumbling as the three of them made their way down the stairs. She didn't hear anything else until Quil came back in alone a few minutes later.

"Well, Collin and Brady said to tell you bye." He said sounding annoyed.

She groaned again as she heard Quil moving around the room.

"Kill me now." She moaned.

"It wasn't that bad." He said reasonably as he climbed back into bed with her, this time wearing a pair of gym shorts. The fact that he felt the need to put something on over his boxer-briefs before getting back into bed with her was just confirmation of how bad it had really been.

Claire just whimpered pathetically while Quil grabbed the middle of the sheet right about her chest and slowly pulled it down so that her face was exposed.

"They saw us, Quil." She muttered lifelessly while staring at the ceiling.

"Yeah." He said with a shrug like maybe it didn't really matter.

"Which means the whole pack just saw us."

"Yeah." He agreed hesitantly.

"And wolves talk. Which means all of their girlfriends saw and their girlfriends tell all the wives and all the wives tell all their husbands so that it's not just the current pack who saw it but it's like every wolf that has ever been a member of the pack and their whole family saw it… it's thirty or forty people." Claire reasoned while looking down toward Quil sitting next to her in the middle of the bed.

Quil made a face of discomfort before saying, "Yeah, okay it's pretty bad."

"You know this means I'll probably have to have some form of the sex education talk from at least three different people who have all known me for so long that they somehow feel it's their personal responsibility to prepare me." Claire groaned.

Quil nodded and said, "At _least_ Sam, Jared, _and_ Paul will pull me aside to just casually let me know that if I ever do anything to unintentionally hurt you they'll all kill me."

"Why are we a part of this ridiculous family, again?"

"I don't know, babe. It seems like I'm asking myself that same question every day." He responded casually.

Claire chuckled at just how ridiculously stupid she felt with what seemed to be her private business out in front of her entire pack family to see. She already knew that Bennett would be asking some serious questions and giving her a hard time about it the next time she saw him.

"Come on, let's get you home and get you dressed before anyone else shows up uninvited and wants to ask some questions about it." Quil said easily as he reached his hands under the sheet and started dragging her across the bed.

After Claire slid into her dirty but dry sweatpants over the boxers she was wearing and Quill found a shirt to go with his gym shorts they went back to her house where Claire managed to causally breeze past her family and up to her room so she could quickly change into some clean clothes and at least manage to find a bra again before coming back down to find Quil already in a round of monopoly with her dad and Jamie.

"Hey," he said brightly when she ran down the stairs while wrestling her insane bedhead hair into a ponytail. "We promised Jamie one round before a ping pong tournament, you in?"

The rest of the weekend past quickly especially since Quil had to run patrol's each night but since his patrols didn't start until midnight he always kissed Claire goodnight on the front porch at ten before taking his car home and then sneaking back in her window where they would lie on her bed and whisper to each other and he would tickle her while she tried not to laugh so that they wouldn't get caught. After Claire couldn't fall asleep without Quil there to hold her after he left for patrol on Saturday night, she started asking him to leave his shirt behind.

So every night at a quarter to midnight Quil would sit up on Claire's bed, pulling her up with him and then grab her face and kiss her goodnight in a ridiculously passionate way that had her shaking before he would pull back and shrug off his t-shirt (which would immediately make her heart start pounding even harder) and then lay it easily across her lap before he would climb out her window and sneak out the side gate before running off into the forest to phase.

Claire would always immediately change into his shirt and then crawl into bed so that she could pull the shirt up around her face and bury herself in his scent as she fell asleep.

Monday was the day that Bennett was flying home from his weekend in Cleveland, so he wasn't at school that day and it was incredibly painful. First period wasn't even over when Charlie; the senior from the football team came in with a note saying he needed to escort Claire to the front office again. It turned out that he forged the whole note just to pull her out of class and drag her around school before asking her to go to prom with him for the third time in less than week.

"NO, Charlie! It's not going to happen. I'm not going to Prom with you and you definitely aren't going to get in my pants so stop asking or I'll stop answering so politely!" she huffed as she marched her way back to class in agitation.

She only made it halfway through lunch when she packed up her empty table she now usually shared with Bennett and left after her third invitation (or desperate begging attempt depending on how you looked at it) to go to prom with someone. When the day finally ended after a series of looks from Macy that were so darkly pathetic Claire actually pitied her, Claire sprinted to her car grateful that Rachel was riding home with Travis and that she didn't have to wait for her. She ripped off the poster board on her wind shield that simply read, _PROM?_ and threw it on the ground before running over it as she pulled out and was one of the first cars out of the lot. She didn't even know who it was from.

When Quil came over to see her that night after dropping off the truck that was the restoration project he had been working on for the last few months and depositing the huge check that came with it, it was already nine o'clock so they just played a few rounds of Mario-kart on the Nintendo 64 together before he said goodnight and then slipped back in her window twenty minutes later.

He climbed in quietly and came over to meet Claire on the bed waiting for him. He wrapped his arms around her and then fell over on the mattress, taking her with him.

"What's wrong, Nino?" he whispered softly in her ear.

Claire had been about to say, ' _nothing'_ but instead she just sighed and whispered, "School just sucks, especially without Bennett there."

Quil nodded his head and kissed her forehead softly.

Claire still hadn't told him about the bet for prom and her virginity. She was so close to telling him now. She wanted to. She knew he would not react well, but it had been such a big part of her awful day and she felt like she couldn't hide it anymore without outright lying about it. It was on the tip of her tongue and she opened her mouth to blurt it out somehow when Quil surprised her by seemingly changing the subject.

"So, you know how I got that big check today?"

"Mm-hmm." Claire answered a little startled as she nodded her head.

"Well, I was thinking… I need to just whisk you away somewhere. Just pull you out of school and run away for a while. Whatcha think?" he asked easily.

Claire smiled and chuckled as she nodded against him and cuddle in tighter to his chest.

"That sounds like a solidly thought out plan to me."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too." He mused softly as he started trailing his fingers up and down her back, rubbing it softly.

"Well you _are_ always so practical." She said reasonably.

"I know, I never do anything without thinking it through." He answered just as seriously.

"Exactly." Claire agreed.

"So, in this plan of stealing you away to be alone together for longer than twenty minutes at a time, where should we go?" he asked as he picked up the end of a lock of her hair and started twirling it between his fingers.

"Hmm." Claire mused thoughtfully, "I hear Maui is nice this time of year."

"Maui does sound nice this time of year." Quil nodded in agreement.

"Or we could go to Disney World!" Claire said excitedly and then laughed at the look on Quil's face.

"Claire, I loved those years I spent with you as my imprint where it was my job to make all of your childhood dreams come true but when I ask you _now_ where I can run away with you I'm not thinking about the kid capital of the world. I'm thinking something much more secluded and romantic."

Claire smiled and chuckled to herself before replying, "Ohh! _Romantic_. Got it!"

Quil scoffed and shook his head at her before pulling his hands to her waist and giving one of his quick tickles as punishment.

"We could do one of those Alaskan Cruises that always leave from Seattle." He said more seriously as he started playing with her hair again.

Claire made a face as she said, "Mmm, I don't know about that."

"Why not? I hear they're really beautiful." He said reasonably.

"Because that sounds too cold. If I'm on vacation I want to be warm and in a swim suit." She replied.

Quil made a face like he was undecided and said, "Yeah, but see I like the idea of you having to snuggle up close to me to keep warm… but then again I also like the idea of you in a swim suit…"

Claire just rolled her eyes at him in response, "You're such a guy."

"Well thanks for noticing." He replied a little sarcastically, "So then Maui?"

Claire acted like she had to think about it for a moment and then nodded her head and agreed, "Maui."

Quil raised his eyebrows suggestively at her a few times and Claire chuckled quietly, trying not to make any noise so that no one would come in and catch them together.

"So, in this scenario, where would we stay?" she asked softly as she used her fingers to start brushing at the stubble on his jawline.

"In a hotel right on the beach." He answered easily as he kept twisting her hair in his fingers behind her.

"Hmm sounds nice." She answered sounding impressed. "What would our room situation be like it?"

"Well…" Quil started while looking to the side as if he was stalling for time to think before he spoke, "We'd of course tell your parents we each had our own room."

"Of course," Claire agreed easily as Quil smiled in response and then nodded seriously, "But really we'd…?"

"-Just have one big room with a giant king-sized bed and probably a giant tub shaped like a heart… we'd probably just get the honeymoon suit actually." He answered.

"Ooh, sounds fancy." Claire said appreciatively.

Quil quickly made a face where he brought his eyebrows together as he pursed his lips and nodded his head confidently.

Claire chuckled and said, "But if we do all that now, then what are we going to do for our _actual_ honeymoon one day?"

Quil pursed his lips again and moved his head side to side while he thought about it. "That's true huh? I'm kind of setting a high precedent you're going to come to expect, aren't I?"

"Yup, and I am not easily pleased, so…" Claire answered seriously before having to bite on her lip to keep from smiling and laughing.

Quil nodded his head seriously in agreement. "I'll take you to Europe for our honeymoon then, how's that?"

Claire did the same thing where she put her lips together and moved her head side to side while she pretended to think about it, "Hmmm," she mused, "Except that we're going to Paris for Christmas, so…."

"Oh, that's right, we're going to Paris for Christmas…. Well you are a spoiled girl. Maui in the spring, Paris for Christmas every year and then an extraordinary honeymoon on top of that. That's quite a lot of precedent that I have to keep up with." Quil said seriously.

Claire just shrugged casually and answered, "Sorry. Everyone wants to hang with the elite but if you can't keep up you just get left behind."

Quil nodded regretfully before saying, "True, I just wish I have known what an elite traveler you are before we got involved like this…"

"Yeah, I probably could have disclosed my expectations beforehand huh?"

"That would have been nice, yes." Quil agreed seriously.

Claire finally let herself smile hugely at him before pulling her hands from his face and reaching under his arms to give him one of her rare tickles.

"You're such a ham." She teased.

Quil chuckled softly before saying, "I really would take you anywhere though."

"I really would go anywhere with you." she answered easily.

Quil pressed his lips together again and nodded his head like he was digesting the idea. "Well maybe let's just start with Maui and go from there."

Claire pulled back a few inches so that she could look at him more clearly.

"Wait. Are you serious?" she asked surprised.

"Yeah," he said casually, "I want to take you away for a week just the two of us."

Claire felt her whole face light up and could hear Quil's laugh in response as she seriously considered running away to lie on the beach with Quil for an entire week.

"Just give me the dates you want to go, and I'll book the tickets." he said before he leaned forward and kissed her softly.

Claire smiled again before biting down on her lip as she considered it. "Let's not actually book it yet."

"What? Why not? Don't you want to go?" he asked confused.

"No, I definitely do! But, actually scheduling it and booking flights and everything involves talking and dealing with a lot of other people! Right now, I just want to stay in this beautiful little bubble of thinking about it with you and not having to explain ourselves." She tried to explain and hoped she made sense.

Quil smiled and nodded his head. "Okay, Nino. Let's just keep planning it between just us for now and we can book it later."

Claire nodded her head and sighed in contentment as she leaned back in to snuggle up to him. Quil pulled her in tight and kissed the top of her head before he sat back up taking her with him again.

She whimpered softly into his shirt as she squeezed her eyes tightly and gripped onto fistfuls of it.

"Do you have to go already?" she whined quietly.

"Yeah." He sighed out softly. "And you need to get some sleep."

Claire bit her lip again to keep from disagreeing since she did have school the next morning and if it took too long for Quil to go out on patrol, whatever wolf was waiting for him would definitely come looking for him.

He grabbed her face in his hands and then leaned in and kissed her softly. Claire expected him to part his lips and deepen the kiss but instead he pulled back. She gave him a questioning look before he leaned back and pulled his shirt off over his head. She had to bite her lip again to keep from moaning at the sight of his chest in front of her. She really wanted to reach over and run her fingers up his abs while using her other hand to explore his chest but then she knew she'd get way too worked up.

Instead she blew out a slightly frustrated breath before crossing her arms to the hem of her shirt and pulling off her own t-shirt to reveal the pink camisole underneath it.

Quil arched one of his eyebrows as he looked down appreciatively at her before snapping his eyes back to her face.

"Sorry." He muttered quickly as she took the shirt in his hand and pulled it down over herself. It smelled amazing and Claire snuggled into it as she shimmied back and forth on her bed and brought the collar up to her face.

Quil chuckled in response before putting his hands on her waist and then surprising her by twisting so that she was suddenly lying on her back before he rolled over to pin himself on top of her.

"Be good, Nino." He whispered as he hovered a few inches above her and brought one of his hands up to run through her hair over her ear.

"Please don't call me that right now." She whispered back with her eyes closed, trying to keep the moment perfect and not pop the bubble of atmosphere.

"When? You mean right now don't call you that?" he asked confused.

Claire nodded her head emphatically before opening her eyes to look at him. "When you're shirtless on top of me." She answered.

She could see Quil biting his lip to keep from smiling as he leaned down and kissed her. Claire forced herself to lie still and not wrap her legs around him as she allowed herself only one arm to reach up and run between the plains of his chest while she ran her fingers through the small patch of his chest hair and then all the way down his abs to the slight trail of hair that led down from his belly button.

Quil pulled back with a sigh before he could lose control and shook his head as he looked down at her.

"Be good, Baby." He crooned in a rough voice.

Claire nodded since she didn't trust herself to reply and not reel him back in for more again. Instead she leaned forward and popped one last quick kiss on his lips before lying back on her pillow and pretending to be asleep. She heard Quil's chuckle as he climbed off her bed and crossed to the window.

"I seriously must have the world's strongest self-control." He muttered to himself and Claire opened her eyes to watch him climb out the window.

He dropped out of sight until he was only hanging by the ledge with one hand before using the other hand to slide her window closed and then dropped completely. Claire held her breath to listen for him to land on the ground but there was never any sound. Instead she leaned over her nightstand and flicked off the lamp that was the only source of light in her room and rolled over to bury her face in Quil's t-shirt and then surprisingly quickly fell asleep.

The next morning Claire blew out a large sigh of relief when she walked into first period before school started and Bennett was already sitting at his desk.

"He-ey!" she greeted him happily, making the word two syllables.

School was rough as it was but without him there it was enough to make her seriously consider Quil's offer to homeschool.

" _Hey!_ " he said with an almost suggestive tone as Claire sat across the aisle from him at her desk.

"How was Cleveland!?" she asked him excitedly.

"Ugh. Boring!" Bennett said in a bored tone before immediately moving on, "So, how was _your_ weekend?"

"It was good. Except school _sucks_ without you here!" Claire answered easily as she started opening her textbook and pulling her assignment out of her bag.

"Yeah, I bet you had a _really_ good weekend." He replied, and Claire finally stopped what she was doing and looked over at him to find him watching her with raised eyebrows.

"What?" she asked confused.

"It just seems like you had a really _busy_ weekend and stayed really _comfortable_." he said with implication in his voice.

"Wha- Collin!" Claire said suddenly understanding his tone.

Bennett just started laughing in response.

"I never knew boxer-briefs were your preferred choice in underwear, Claire!"

"Oh, I'm going to kill him! He showed you everything didn't he!?" she groaned in frustration.

"Oh yeah, he didn't even _try_ to hide any of it. Quil won't let Leah run patrols with him because she'll totally lose it if she sees the things he's thinking about you right now." Bennett replied easily.

"Are you serious!?" Claire asked feeling disturbed. "Collin is thinking about _me_!?"

"Yup. And a little too graphically for my taste- no offense or anything, I just don't think about you like that. Anymore. I mean I still love you and all, but I just don't want to think about how you would- not that you would- but if you did, I just don't need to know…" Bennett suddenly started flustering.

"Bennett. I get it. I don't want you to think about me like that. And I definitely don't want _Collin_ to think of me in that way!" Claire said quickly before he could continue to fluster. "What does Quil do when he thinks like that!?" she asked surprised Collin was still walking around without a broken neck.

"Oh yeah, if Quil's there Collin won't even come close to thinking about you but the rest of us all step in too if he starts to get too carried away, but usually he starts to feel guilty before he needs an intervention… he's surprisingly dedicated to his relationship with Leah. I think he thinks if he can't make this relationship work he'll never be able to make a real relationship last." Bennett explained.

"Wow. I'm not sure if I should be impressed that he's actually trying to grow up or annoyed that his immaturity is fixated on me…." Claire mused causing Bennett to laugh.

The bell indicating the beginning of school rang bringing in more students into the room, so Claire lowered her voice before she asked hesitantly, "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

Bennett looked over in surprise and clearly intrigued as a response so Claire continued, "Why is it that Collin can think of me like that, but you couldn't?"

Bennett immediately looked toward the board and cleared his throat a little before looking back at her, "Because…. I was in love with you."

Claire could tell the memory of it was uncomfortable for him.

"So, because Collin doesn't love me he can fantasize about me as much as he wants?" Claire asked wanting clarification but also hoping to direct the conversation towards Collin and away from Bennett's past feelings.

"Not exactly… no." he replied.

Claire could feel her forehead scrunch together in slightly frustrated confusion before she turned back to Bennett and said,

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, I'm just trying to understand how all this telepathy stuff works… You'd think after all these years I'd have a handle on it but I still feel like I'm in the dark about it sometimes."

Bennett's forehead seemed to mimic Claire's as he pulled his eyebrows together for a second before reaching over to put his hand on her forearm.

"No, Claire. You didn't make me uncomfortable. I'm just awkward but you didn't upset me." He said with his usual goofy tone.

She blew out a relieved breath and nodded at him as she started opening her book to the lesson they were on, willing to let the conversation drop. She was surprised when Bennett continued,

"It really is because Collin isn't in love with you. There's no emotional component to threaten the imprint relationship. He doesn't really view you as a person…. I guess he just mostly views you as a body. You could be replaced by any random woman, but something about your particular look, body, aura, whatever, does it for him. If he gets too….. focused on it, or you, then he does get shut down but for the most part since he doesn't care that it's _you_ he can get away with it."

Claire was frozen in shock as she stared down at the textbook in her hand before she turned to Bennett to say,

"Well that's completely horrifying."

Bennett just started laughing in agreement, "Maybe take it as a compliment, I guess?"

"Eww. Seriously, Bennett, I have known Collin since I was two-freaking-years-old! He gave me a light-brite for my sixth birthday, and now he doesn't even view me as a person, just as a sexual object... a sex toy! That's what I am to him now. Ugh, I feel like I need to go take a shower." Claire whispered so that none of the people hurrying to sit in their seats before the late bell would over hear them.

Bennett laughed again before saying, "Yeah, _but_ you've also known Quil since you were two."

"That's…. that's…. just different." She stuttered out.

"How!?" he laughed in disbelieve.

"Because! First of all, Quil actually loves me. And second, I'm actually attracted to him too. Plus, there's respect there, not just selfish gratification." She replied quickly.

"Alright, alright. I may be a guy but even I can see a problem with the way Collin looks at you sometimes." Bennett replied, and Claire just nodded in agreement as the bell rang.

Once the teacher started his lecture at the board Claire waited a few moments in silence, so she wouldn't draw attention before she leaned over towards Bennett and whispered,

"Hey, can I ask you a favor?"

He looked over from all the questions on his homework that he had circled because he had gotten them wrong. There were more circled than not.

"Um, sure." He replied hesitantly.

"Do you think you could ask Quil to go to the gym with you on Thursday?" She said as casually as she could while still whispering.

"Sure." He answered easily. "But why are you trying to get rid of Quil on Thursday afternoon?"

"I'm not trying to get rid of him, I just have something going on, so I thought it would be better if he did too is all."

"Something going on?" he asked suspiciously.

"Yeah." Claire answered casually.

"Something you don't want him to know about."

"Wha- No. It's not like that."

"Then what's it like?"

"I just have a doctor's appointment that's all." Claire answered, wishing he would just let it drop.

"A doctor's appointment?" Bennett said suspiciously.

"Yes." Claire answer starting to feel slightly exasperated.

"What's wrong?"

"What?" she asked confused.

"Why are you going to the doctor? What's wrong?" he repeated.

"Oh. No, nothing. I'm fine, it's just a checkup."

"Well then why can't Quil know about it?" he reasoned in a whisper as he looked back at the board and wrote something down.

" _Because_ if he knows about it then he'll just want to come with me." Claire explained as she wrote down the same equation Bennett did.

"Right, so why don't you tell him, so he can come? He didn't get to be there after the accident and you know he'd want to go to all of your follow ups." Bennett said reasonably.

"No. It's not that kind of doctor's appointment. He can't come." Claire said starting to feel flustered.

"What do you mean? I thought you said it was just a checkup." Bennett continued, and Claire was starting to feel like she was in a rapid-fire round of a game show.

"It _is_ just a checkup!" she replied.

"Well then why can't Quil go?"

"Because….. he can't."

"I just don't get why you're trying to hide it from him." Bennett replied.

"Because!" Claire hissed in a whisper. "I'm going to see a gynecologist, okay!?" Claire saw Bennett's pencil freeze from where it was rapidly writing across his notebook before he turned to look at her with a disturbed look on his face. Claire probably could have stopped then, but something had sort of snapped inside her after his continual pushing. "I'm sorry if I don't want my boyfriend in the room while they clamp my vagina open and then stick a giant Q-tip up to my cervix for a pap smear, all right!?

Bennett's face was almost comical as his eyebrows rose up and then he looked back toward the board as he shook his head back and forth like he was trying to shake out all the words she had just spoken to him. He definitely seemed horrified before he looked back at her and quickly said,

"Alright, I'll make sure Quil is busy on Thursday afternoon."

"Thank you." Claire replied without quite looking at him. She was feeling equal amounts of agitation that he pushed the issue so much and guilt for definitely over sharing past the point of comfort.

They were quiet for the next fifteen minutes as they took notes and were still grading each other's homework when he leaned over to her in the middle of class and whispered in disbelieve,

"Do they really do any of that!?"

"What?" Claire asked confused.

Bennett swallowed like he was having a hard time saying the words before he whispered so quietly Claire had to lean in to hear,

"The Gynecologist. Do they really do everything you just said!?"

"Yeah." Claire said as she raised her eyebrows and nodded her head to show him how serious it was.

"Ugh." He said sounding deeply disturbed. "Doesn't that hurt?"

"I don't know, I've never had to do it before." she answered nervously.

"So, why do you have to do it now?" Bennett asked sounding concerned for her safety.

Claire just flinched a bit at the question before she gave him a look that said, _Seriously!?_

"Right. Sorry. My bad." He replied quickly.

Claire just nodded her head as she continued to take notes for the next few minutes.

"Just….." Claire looked over at Bennett leaning across the aisle in the middle of trying to spit something out. ".. you're not like pregnant or something are you?"

Claire's mouth dropped open as she looked at him before she snapped it shut and looked back at the board and then back at Bennett before hissing in the quietest whisper possible,

"No, Bennett, I'm definitely not pregnant!"

He looked decidedly relieved as he blew out a breath and put a hand to his chest like he could finally breathe again. He stayed like that for a second before he suddenly leaned over and put his hand on her arm again. Claire looked up at him in surprise before he said,

"But you'd tell me if you were, right?"

He sounded deeply concerned.

Claire thought about it as she evaluated if she would honestly want Bennett to know if she ever did something like getting knocked up. She blushed a little as she thought about it before she nodded her head and said,

"I promise."

Bennett nodded his head looking relieved before he went back to quickly copy down all the equations on the board he had missed. They didn't speak to each other again until the bell rang, and they said goodbye at the door.

The truth was that since the conversation Claire had had with Quil's mother on Saturday something Leslie had said had stuck with her. Claire had spent over an hour trying to explain about imprinting and how she was always meant to be _with_ Quil one day. She explained how much she meant to Quil and how much she loved him. She even had to roll her eyes and assure Leslie that Quil wasn't dating anyone else just because he had accidently called her ' _babe'_ that morning on the phone or been mysterious about the girlfriend that was in fact her. At one point there had been a small pause in the conversation as Claire looked out over the ocean before Leslie suddenly said,

"You do know how girls get pregnant, right?"

Claire pulled her eyebrows together in shocked disbelieve at the question before nodding her silent emphatic ascent that she did in fact know how girls become impregnated.

Leslie laughed for a second before saying, "No, I meant do you know how girls find themselves in situations where they're suddenly pregnant?"

"What do you mean?" Claire asked intrigued.

"They have sex when they aren't prepared for it. It doesn't matter what their situation is or where they come from or how much they love the boy, it always stems back to having sex they weren't prepared for."

"You mean like practically prepared for or like emotionally not prepared?" Claire asked confused.

"Both." Leslie said dryly before continuing, "More _practically_ but I'm sure there were plenty of girls who weren't emotionally prepared to have sex that ended up pregnant… hell, I was one of them."

Claire nodded as they continued to walk. That was the part of the conversation had stayed with her. She wanted to defend her situation and say that she and Quil had in fact been prepared since she had just finished her period and therefore wasn't ovulating, so they had a clear plan on how to not get pregnant, but she knew that was a lie. Thinking of any method of birth control had basically been the last thing on their mind before Leslie had walked in on them and Claire was fairly certain any protection Quil had in that room had to be at least fifteen years old.

That night after Quil had left for patrol and Claire couldn't seem to relax and fall asleep she kept coming back to that part of the conversation. She and Quil had already decided that afternoon to wait awhile until Claire was absolutely sure she was ready before they had sex but the line about not being prepared before it happened kept coming back to her mind. Claire made up her mind that night. She had been raised by a doctor and a man who favored honesty and practicality over avoiding awkward conversations, so Monday after school Claire had picked up the phone and made herself an appointment at the gynecologist that her mother worked with. It was an incredibly awkward feeling, but they didn't ask any questions and simply told her to come a half hour early to her appointment to fill out paperwork.

Which is how Claire found herself on the second floor waiting room of the same building as her mother's pediatric practice the floor below. Because she had been so nervous for Thursday it had come incredibly quickly. Fortunately, Bennett must have kept his cool because Quil hadn't said anything to her about it or seemed suspicious at all. He had only remembered to send her a text that morning informing her that he wouldn't be available that afternoon since he was going to the gym with Bennett. So, Claire had left school, gone home to change out of her jeans and converse into a knit pencil skirt and flats to go with her t-shirt.

She wasn't trying to overdress but she figured that just because she was a high school student didn't mean that everyone there needed to know it just by looking at her. She added some powder and matte lipstick to her makeup and then was satisfied that she looked about twenty and wouldn't get too many judgmental stares in the waiting room before she climbed back in the car and drove herself to Port Angeles.

As Claire sat in the waiting room she forced her legs not too bounce while she pretended to peruse a magazine and not act like she was fully aware of all of the pregnant women in the room that were simultaneously making her want to run for her life and reinforcing in her the exact reason why she needed to be here.

There were five. Five women in various stages of pregnancy. At least that she could see, she had no idea how many women were pregnant but just not showing with large baby bumps. And that didn't even include the women that was breastfeeding one baby while a toddler played in the corner next to her.

Claire didn't think she had ever sat in a room where she was so desperate to not be grouped in the same classification as everyone else while desperately not wanting to be called back either. She was doing some seriously focused yoga breathing as she tried desperately hard to remain calm and remind herself that it wasn't a big deal but even she knew she was lying to herself. It _was_ a big deal. It was a huge deal. The only person she had even told about her appointment was Bennett. She wasn't even sure why she hadn't told Quil about it.

She knew that he would want to come but if she explained that she wanted to go alone she knew he would respect that. Except that he would also tell her she didn't need to go. He would insist that birth control was not her responsibility alone and that she didn't need to worry about it. And if she even could somehow get through all of those conversations and still make it here without him she knew there would be this unspoken tension stemming from an expectation that now that she was physically prepared to have sex, when were they going to actually do it? All together Claire still felt justified in not telling him about this particular appointment and knew that she would just tell him after the fact when she was on the other side and not freaking out about what she needed to do.

"Claire?"

Her head immediately snapped up to the nurse standing in the doorway that led back to the exam rooms and was calling her name to the group as a whole. She immediately wanted to shush her before someone recognized her or realized she was there. She knew it was pretty stupid to come to a practice in the same building that her mom worked in if she didn't want to be recognized but the truth was she was already familiar and semi-comfortable with Dr. Cox and she figured if anyone asked what she was doing she could say that she was just there to see her mom and not be questioned (which she couldn't do at any other practice), she had even brought a P.E. permission slip for her mom to sign in case she was caught and forced to face her.

Claire immediately stood and tossed the magazine on a table to the side while making her way to the nurse as quickly as she could while still maintaining a casual pace. Her heart was pounding, and she was severely regretting coming alone. She should have brought Rachel with her. She would have come if Claire had begged, plus Claire figured that with the way she seemed to be sneaking out with Travis every other night they could just go on the pill together and everyone would benefit.

The nurse gave her a friendly smile and said in a volume loud enough to make Claire cringe, "Hi, how are you today, Claire?"

"Um…" Claire squeaked nervously before clearing her throat and trying again, "I'm fine, thanks."

She was so nervous she didn't ask how she was doing in return, even if she could have spoken normally the truth was she wanted to cut the small talk as quickly as possible.

The nurse gave a small chuckle before asking, "This your first appointment?"

Claire nodded while feeling like a total newb that she couldn't act composed and mature. "Yeah." Claire admitted casually and was proud of how she regained just a small amount of her dignity by acting like she wasn't ashamed.

"How far along are you?" the nurse asked in a friendly tone as she gestured for Claire to step on the scale in front of her.

"What? No. I'm not pregnant!" Claire immediately answered too quickly losing whatever composure points she had just gained but feeling suddenly more grateful than ever she hadn't brought Quil along with her. Not only would it be completely mortifying for her but there was no way anyone _wouldn't_ assume she was pregnant if her supposed baby daddy came along.

"Oh, sorry!" the nurse said as she smacked at her forehead. "Just a force of habit. I swear I've had that same conversation twenty times today!"

The nurse quickly wrote her weight and height down on the paperwork that Claire had already filled out before wrapping a blood pressure cuff around her arm and then starting the machine.

She looked back down at the form she was writing on before she looked up to ask in an official tone, "So, what is the reason for your visit today, Claire?"

Claire was sure that her blood pressure just went up in response as she cleared her throat and tried to answer as casually as possible, "Um… just an overall wellness visit."

"Okay." The nurse agreed easily as she unstrapped the cuff from her arm. "So, we'll do a pap smear. Have you ever had one before?"

Claire just shook her head in response since she knew her voice would crack if she tried to answer.

"Well you already signed the consent form, so Dr. Cox will walk you through the procedure before he begins, and he'll also do a standard breast exam and check all your glans for inflammation." The nurse continued.

Claire just nodded her head again while wishing desperately that the nurse had taken her into a private exam room before having this conversation instead of in a hallway where other nurses and patients continued to walk past. One pregnant woman had just come out of a rest room with a urine sample in an open cup in her hand.

"Is there anything else you wanted Dr. Cox to be aware of before the exam?"

Claire took a deep breath and held it for a full three seconds before forcing it out and forcing herself to calmly say,

"I need a prescription for birth control."

The nurse didn't even look up as she wrote across Claire's form while saying easily, "Okay, we can definitely do that."

Claire immediately felt relieved at how easy that was as she stood up and followed the nurse into an exam room down the hall. The feeling only last about three seconds until the nurse handed her what felt like two paper table clothes and said,

"Strip down to completely naked. This one ties closed in the front and this one covers your lap. The doctor will be right in."

Claire just stood there in the room she had been left alone in when the nurse had firmly closed the door behind her and stared at a tiny paper gown and what felt like a large paper towel.

She suddenly wondered if it was definitely too late to run for it and simply tell Quil that unfortunately as nice it would be they would never ever be having sex.

Her hands were shaking as she turned and locked the door behind her before going into the adjoining bathroom and using the restroom to clean herself up as much as she possibly could in a bathroom that wasn't her own. She stripped all of her clothes including her underwear and shoes and donned the incredibly tiny and uncomfortable paper gown. She stepped into the exam room and unfolded the sham-wow portion before she stepped to the door and unlocked it, so the doctor could enter before she immediately sprinted as fast as she could to the exam table and sat down, tucking the paper towel tightly around her legs to cover her lap.

The next ten minutes were some of the most painful of Claire's entire life. Her heart pounded the entire time and she couldn't seem to stop all the thoughts of doubt that kept running through her mind as she waited for her turn with Dr. Cox. The only thing that brought her any sense of comfort was the thought that however uncomfortable this visit was she could only imagine how much worse a visit would be if she was indeed pregnant and that that was the whole reason for her visit in the first place.

Her heart almost stopped when she heard a knock on the door right before it opened, and Dr. Cox walked in. Claire had known Dr. Cox since her mom had joined the overall practice ten years earlier but in all that time she had never considered how uncomfortable it would be to be his patient. But then again, she figured it would be just as uncomfortable to a patient to any of his colleagues… At least she knew this guy. He was dark and middle aged with a dry sense of humor and Claire wasn't sure if he was also Makah, but he was definitely dark enough and had the cheekbones to indicate he could be.

"Well, hello, Miss Claire. It's nice to see you today." He said brightly as he closed the door behind him. "I can't believe how much you've grown up. How old are you now?"

It was a friendly enough comment, but Claire immediately worried he was about to make some sort of judgement about her salacious behavior at such a young age that caused her to need an appointment.

She cleared her throat once again and said simply, "Sixteen."

He nodded his head like he was impressed before taking a seat across from her and saying, "You always did strike me as a smart girl. I'm really glad you decided to come in for an exam today."

Claire's heart was immediately put at ease. She could instantly tell that he wasn't judging her for having sex but was instead impressed with her maturity to get proper healthcare if she was going to.

"Thanks." Claire replied in a more relaxed tone.

"Okay so Gretchen tells me you're here for an exam and a prescription for birth control, is that correct?" he asked casually.

"Yes….. except….." Claire started to say but then thought better about it and stopped.

Dr. Cox looked up at her to say, "Except?"

Claire took a breath and then decided to continue against her better judgement, "…. Is there any way that my mom could not find out about this? It's just she's not really happy I'm dating my boyfriend and I just don't really want her to know before…. I mean if we decided…. I just don't think she'll be thrilled-"

He stopped Claire's flustering by shaking his head and holding up his hand to silence her.

"Claire, there's this thing I'm sure you've heard of called HIPAA laws. Those apply to minors too. Unless you give me specific instructions to I can't discuss you or any of my other patients with your mother, so you don't need to worry about it. I see you're on your father's health insurance so any copay will be addressed to him but whatever happens when it's delivered is out of my control."

She blew out a huge breath of relief and nodded her head in agreement.

"Now let's discuss birth control." He continued casually, "It says on your form that you wanted a prescription for a birth control pill, correct?"

Claire nodded her in agreement when he looked up at her.

"So, you're currently sexually active?"

Claire swallowed loudly before answering, "No, I'm actually still a virgin. I'm just trying to be prepared."

Dr. Cox nodded as if she had given a very satisfactory answer. "I actually wish I saw more patients like you and less patients asking what to do after they're already pregnant."

She just nodded not really sure how to respond.

"Is there a reason you wanted the pill specifically?" he continued on.

"Um… no…. Do I have other options?" Claire answered feeling slightly confused.

He simply nodded before leaning forward and asking, "Have you ever considered an IUD?"

Claire just shook her head in response and he immediately reached into a drawer to his right and pulled out a small plastic circle. He handed it to Claire and she could see the small t-shape with odd strings and ridges it contained.

"Inter-Uterine Device. I would insert this just above your cervix and it would release low doses of hormones into your uterine lining for the next five years and best of all; more likely than not your periods will significantly lighten if not completely stop." He said in a very practiced informative measure.

Claire looked down at in surprise before asking, "And it's as effective as the pill?"

"More so actually. There is less chance of accidental pregnancy with an IUD as opposed to a birth control pill and you don't have to remember to take it every day. I can simply insert it today and that's it."

Claire looked back at it, feeling impressed with how easy it seemed to be. "And it lasts for five years?"

"Yes, it does. Which is why I would recommend it for someone your age. Of course, you can come in at any time and have it removed if you ever want to try to conceive within the next five years."

Claire pursed her lips as she considered it before nodding her head and saying, "Alright, if you recommend it then I trust your opinion."

He smiled a bit before saying in an informative but slightly warning tone, "Now you know that this will only protect against pregnancy, it's still incredibly important to use a condom and practice safe sex methods."

Claire started nodding emphatically to let him know she understood and had seen enough sex ed. videos to be scared straight when it came to safe sex. Though she'd never admit it with her doctor in the room as far as she was concerned, if Quil said he was clean, well that was good enough for her and she was never planning on having any other sexual partners, so any safe sex speeches weren't necessary.

"Great. Well here's a constant form for the IUD for you to read through, because you're over sixteen you can simply sign for yourself." He answered easily as he handed her a paper out of a drawer and she handed him back the plastic cylinder with the IUD inside it.

She quickly scanned over it, seeing a myriad of potential side effects she figured it was better to brush past instead of focus too closely on before using the pen he had handed her to sign it as he gave a knock on the door that led to the hall. Claire thought it was strange since he was inside the room, but he didn't mention it as he pulled on a pair of latex gloves and then took the form from her.

"So, how's cheerleading going?" he asked casually as he approached her and put both hands lightly on both sides of her neck under her jaw and then started probing his fingers around.

Claire gasped at his unexpected contact since she had expected him to ask before he started touching her.

"Good," she replied a moment late, "…I mean the seasons over, but it was good."

"So, you're still cheering then?" he asked completely relaxed before continuing, "Good, good, your thyroids feel good."

"Uh, yeah I am."

"Lay back." He said like an afterthought.

"And you have a boyfriend now?" he continued as he untied the front of her gown and pulled the right side of it up.

"Um… yeah I do." She answered while stuttering slightly.

He kept eye contact with her as he reached his hand in and placed his fingers on the edge of her breast.

"How'd you meet him?" he asked easily as he started applying a good amount of pressure and rubbing in a circular motion.

"Um…" Claire started to reply while trying to come up with the answer while also trying not to think about how the first man to feel up her bare breast was now her doctor. "I've known him since I was– we were kids- since _we_ were kids." She finally answered while really not wanting to get into the specifics of her relationship with her thirty-one-year-old boyfriend especially while he was squeezing her breast like that.

He pulled his hand out and laid the paper gown back across her chest before lifting the other side and sticking his hand in to repeat the process.

"And your mom mentioned that you were in a car accident?" he asked as he started pressing and moving in circles again.

"Yes! I was, after a cheer competition. I broke my arm and ended my cheer season early because of it." She answered quickly, grabbing onto the change in subject but finding it difficult to focus on the conversation while he was touching her.

"That must have been painful. Here breathe in for me, Claire." He replied as he moved his hands down to her tummy and started poking and prodding around so deeply it was almost painful.

Claire didn't bother to reply as she held her breath and waited for him to stop poking at her.

Right as he finally started pulling his hands away the door opened quickly and the same nurse that had left her in the room to change quickly slid in the room while holding the door closed as much as possible before shutting it behind her.

"Hey, Gretchen." Dr. Cox said easily as she held a clipboard loosely in both hands and went to stand across the room. "Alright, Claire, everything looks good. I'm going to do your vaginal exam now so go ahead and slide all the way down to the edge and then put your feet in the stirrups here." He said casually as he suddenly pulled stirrups out from seemingly nowhere and lifted them until they were hovering above Claire's head level.

Claire was shaking as she forced herself to slide to the edge of the table and then felt air hit her bare butt before Dr. Cox flipped the switch on a lamp that suddenly shinned a spotlight directly on her crotch causing her entire body to tense in response. Claire's knees were shaking ridiculously hard as she forced herself to put one foot and then the other in the stirrups before both of her knees immediately fell into each other like magnets pulling themselves together.

"Gretchen, hand me the lubricant." Dr. Cox said quietly from the other side of the sham-wow that was only providing privacy in the sense that they couldn't make eye contact as he got a full view of Claire that no one had ever seen before.

Claire had started receiving bikini waxes every six to eight weeks since she had joined cheer the beginning of her freshman year so she thought that she had some experience being exposed in front of someone, but the experience of lying on her back with her legs in butterfly position had _not_ prepared her for the full exposure of having her legs in the stirrups with her butt at the edge of a table. She always kept herself groomed and cleaned up down there for her own sake but being so exposed suddenly made her nervous that there was some sort of expected grooming standard she was supposed to maintain for this type of examination and that she wouldn't fully meet it. She bit her lip in response just as something wet touched her skin and she had to force herself not to flinch.

"Try to relax your knees for me, Claire." Dr. Cox said calmly, and Claire could visibly see her knees shake as her thighs clenched in protest when she forced them apart to give him an even clearer view. "Okay, I'm going to insert a clamp to hold your vagina open while I do your pap smear. It's going to feel like a tampon sliding in but just try to relax around it, alright?"

Claire couldn't respond as she saw him reach for what seriously looked like a two-inch curling iron. She could feel how wide her eyes became and forced herself to stare directly up at the ceiling and take deep breaths as her sweaty palms clamped down on the paper covering underneath her.

 _Quil, you are so freaking lucky I love you!_ She thought angrily to herself as she felt something that legitimately looked like a dark-ages torture device gently forced inside of her. She didn't think it would do anything once it was inserted but then there was a cranking sound and she felt it widen inside of her. It wasn't exactly painful, but it definitely did nothing to make her more comfortable.

"Okay, you're just going to feel a little pressure as I swab your cervix." He said casually while Gretchen continued to watch on from the side of the room without speaking. Claire had no idea why she was even there.

Dr. Cox grabbed what had to be the longest Q-tip Claire had ever seen off the table and inserted it before giving her a chance to prepare.

She had thought she had been prepared to receive a pap smear when she had described it to Bennett a couple days earlier. She had researched it on the internet which was how she knew what to expect, but the sharp sticking and scrapping she was feeling while a literal stick of cotton was shoved up inside her was way less pleasant than she had been expecting.

"Alright." The doctor said easily as he pulled out what seemed to be ten inches of Q-tip and then stuck it in a clear cylinder and sealed it shut with a sticker.

Claire expected him to remove the curling iron now and she was doing her best to not clamp down around it but was not being very successful.

"Okay, Claire, I'm going to go ahead and insert the IUD now while I'm already in here alright?"

Claire just bit her lip uncomfortably and nodded while suddenly hating with a deep passion the phrase 'I'm in here' as referring so casually to her vag.

"Alright, I'm going to apply a local anesthetic to your cervix, so you'll feel a slight pinch." He said in a soft soothing tone.

Claire nodded and tried to relax, knowing it would be a smoother experience if she was calm, but to her extreme horror she looked down from the ceiling just in time to see him pull a syringe out of a drawer that had the longest needle attached to it she had ever seen. She immediately bit down on her bottom lip so hard she was suddenly tasting blood as she swore to never look away from the ceiling ever again.

"Try to relax." He said softly, and Claire knew he was right since she could feel the strong tension coursing through her entire body.

She took a deep breath in and then blew out hugely while forcing her muscles to soften within her. As soon as she did she felt what he had descried to her as a ' _small pinch'_ but was really a sharp tearing pain from within her.

She audibly whimpered as she closed her eyes and all her muscles tensed together again. She was trying desperately hard not to cry and her palms were sweating so badly she had soaked the paper cloth in her fists.

"Alright," Dr. Cox said softly as he removed the needle from with inside her, "Gretchen, could you please come hold Claire's hand while I insert the device."

Claire was sure she should feel humiliated at this point that she needed a babysitter to hold her hand but was so far past being exposed she couldn't feel anything beyond her extreme desire for this entire experience to end.

"Sure." The nurse replied kindly as she came to Claire's side and offered her hand.

Claire had to really focus to force her right hand to release the paper it was clamped around and then move her arm to place her hand inside of the woman's next to her. She was panting and trying to relax as she tried to recover from what was just the anesthetic.

She couldn't see what the doctor was doing on the other side of the paper curtain that was being held up by her thighs, but she didn't want to know as she held loosely to Gretchen's hand and found herself surprisingly grateful for the human contact.

"Alright, that should be enough time for the anesthetic to kick in." he mumbled to himself from the other side of the curtain and Claire immediately clamped down on Gretchen's hand in preparation. "Try to relax, Claire." He said softly as she felt something moving within her before a severely sharp pressure inside her that felt like he was forcing something hard and blunt to tear through tissue inside of her.

She whimpered again as she tried desperately to remain relaxed and then suddenly the pressure was gone, and something was pulled out.

"And there you go." Dr. Cox said confidently as she heard another cranking sound and then the clamp inside of her released. "See, that wasn't so bad." He said easily as he finally pulled the curling iron out.

Claire didn't respond while screaming internally at him, _How would you know!? You don't even HAVE a vagina!_

"Alright, you can sit up now." Gretchen said kindly while gently trying to pry her fingers out of Claire's hold that she had forgotten she was clamping down on.

Claire immediately dropped her hand and scurried up the table until she felt the paper underneath her even though it hurt and caused cramping inside her.

"Okay, Claire, expect to feel some cramping and have spotting for the next few weeks. You can always take ibuprofen or Midol. If anything seems concerning or if you have any questions, feel free to call though." Dr. Cox said in a friendly voice. He seemed just as at ease as he had when he had walked through the door though her current feelings towards him were very different then they'd been fifteen minutes earlier.

She knew all of her feelings of animosity (whether towards Dr. Cox, or towards Quil just for being her potential sexual partner) was completely irrational but while she was currently feeling slightly traumatized and in extreme physical discomfort she just couldn't force herself to be rational about it.

"Thank you." She barely managed to mutter.

"Alright, well if you don't have any other questions you are set to get dressed and be on your way."

Claire just shook her head as emphatically as she could. She was desperate for them to leave so that she could get out of here and now try to come to terms with the fact that there was a foreign object inside her body that had been implanted through her vagina after she had been probed and that that was not at all a barbaric thing to experience.

The doctor offered her a friendly smile before saying, "Alright, Claire, it's always good to see you!"

Claire barely smiled and said, "Same." in return as he walked out the door followed by Gretchen who Claire did just manage to thank more sincerely since she had after all let her use her hand for the purposes of a stress ball.

As soon as they were gone Claire hopped off the table and ripped all of the paper off her naked body. She moved gingerly to the door where she locked it before making her way to the bathroom. It took her a few minutes to clean up whatever lube had been left after her procedure and then get dressed before grabbing her purse and walking out as quickly as she could.

She was ridiculously relieved when she didn't have to speak to anyone before she made it to the waiting room and then marched directly out the doors and down the stairs. She didn't stop until she was sitting comfortably in her car with the doors locked at which point she let out a breath and immediately felt the throbbing ache inside her that felt like the worst period pain she had ever experienced. And that was with the anesthetic still in effect. She couldn't imagine how much it would hurt in an hour.

She wished she didn't have a twenty-minute drive home. She just wanted to take a pain pill and lay down in her sweats while she watched Netflix and avoided all human contact until she could at least look herself in the eye when she looked in the mirror again. She quickly pulled out her phone and typed out a text to Bennett,

 **I need you to keep Quil longer.**

She knew it was ridiculous to pawn Quil off on Bennett while acting like he was a small child that needed to be tended too but she was just that desperate to avoid him. She leaned forward and rested her head against the steering wheel waiting for his response. Fortunately, Bennett was the fastest texter she knew.

 **Okay…. Why? Did it go okay?**

She blew out a shaky breath while fighting off the ridiculous urge to cry.

 **Yeah, I just really need to be alone and rest after what felt like an alien obduction and probing and Quil will have a lot of questions if he sees me like this.**

Claire nodded her head in agreement with her own text before she leaned forward and inserted the key to start her car. Her phone immediately chimed.

 **Alright…. Feel better I guess…. I'll see you tomorrow.**

Claire sent back a praying hands emoji and then threw her phone on the passenger seat as she put the car in reverse and pulled out to go home.

* * *

 ***Alright friends! Here's a nice extra long chapter for y'all! It covers a lot of material and I feel that I probably need to apologies for any potential discomfort that you probably experienced while living through Claire's first OBGYN experience along with her! I always try to keep my writing as real as possible (Which is why Quil and Claire discuss her period in the very first chapter of Imprintation) but this is really real... lol I realize it might be TMI so sorry if it made you uncomfortable. Hahaha other than that I hope you were able to enjoy it!**

 **xoxo**

 **Jess**


	19. Chapter 18

***Okay this chapter is a short little baby one today but because of that I have more time to start working on the next one which should hopefully be up by tomorrow! Im excited about the place in the story we're at and where things are going! So stay tuned for more and enjoy!**

 **xoxo**

* * *

CHAPTER 18

By the time Claire got home her pain had gone from a sharp ache to a searing misery. She stumbled inside and barely mumbled a response to her dad and Jamie's hellos from where they were parked on the couch watching a basketball game. She bee-lined for her room and then went straight for her medicine cabinet while singing praises she hadn't followed Greg's advice and flushed the rest of the Vicodin from her accident.

She dug frantically through the cabinet only to come up empty. She couldn't understand why she couldn't find it. She was positive she had left it in there. Maybe Rachel had moved it. Except that didn't really make sense since they each had their own medicine cabinets on each side of the vanity.

Claire immediately moved to Rachel's cabinet and started digging through it with no success. Frustrated, she blew out a breath which ended up coming out as more of growl. She was tired and irritated and gross from all her anxiety sweats and whatever sort of lube that Dr. Cox had used on her that she hadn't seemed to have been able to completely clean off. Worst of all, she was in pain and every movement just seemed to make it worse.

Accepting defeat Claire sucked in her gut as tightly as she could to try to hold her muscles together to stave off the pain emanating from deep inside of her (and also not so deeply inside of her) and hurriedly made her way down the stairs. She didn't even acknowledge her dad or brother as she started banging around in the kitchen cabinet where they kept assorted drugs.

There in the very back was the orange bottle with the white cap and red sticker. She immediately grabbed it and went to yank it out above all the other bottles in front of it but froze with it about halfway to her. It was empty.

 _That's impossible! I had at least four left!_

Claire thought in a borderline panic. She quickly checked the label to make sure it was her name on the bottle with her prescription. It was the bottle she was looking for but there was nothing inside of it.

"Ugh! You've got to be kidding!" Claire yelled loudly through the kitchen.

"What's going on?"

Her dad's calm voice startled her since she hadn't realized he had come up behind her. She turned to face him with the bottle in her hand. He quickly turned to look at it as she said,

"It's empty!"

"What it is?" he asked confused.

"The Vicodin the hospital prescribed after my accident. It's empty!" Claire huffed in frustration.

"Okay…." He said as he scrunched his forehead in concertation. "Why do you need it?"

Claire suddenly hesitated. She had no idea how to explain to him or how much to share. She trusted her dad almost completely and she didn't think he would be _really_ upset if she told him the truth, but she also knew he wouldn't be thrilled, and it didn't seem like the type of thing you just casually blurted out.

"Uh….. um….. Cramps. I'm having cramps." She suddenly answered as she looked up at him.

He looked up from the bottle that he had been studying to look back at her as he asked in a concerned voiced,

"You're having Vicodin level cramps!?"

"Yes!" Claire answered immediately.

He immediately made a disturbed face where the corners of his lips pulled back almost towards his ears. Claire would have laughed at the expression since he had a rather large mouth and set of lips that were almost always smiling and seeing such a horrified expression on his face would have been hilarious if she hadn't been in so much pain.

"Are you sure you had any left overs?" he asked.

"Yes. At least four." She replied confidently.

"Hmm." He replied sounding confused. "Well we have some ibuprofen. Why don't you take some of that?"

" _Because_ we already established that I am in Vicodin level pain!" Claire replied through gritted teeth.

"Here!" he said quickly as he reached for the 800-count bottle of generic Ibuprofen behind her. "Take these. It'll help. Just don't take any more tonight."

Claire held her hand up as he dumped four pills into it before filling her a glass of water from the tap.

She didn't say anything as she quickly swallowed all the pills down at once and almost choked on them in response. As soon she finished drinking the water there was an awkward moment where she and her dad stood there staring at each other while not knowing what to say to the other.

"I'm going to go take a shower." Claire said quickly while looking away.

"Sounds good. Let me know if you need anything." He responded while sounding relieved.

She nodded before she gingerly made her way back up to her bedroom where she breezed through into her bathroom. She realized she had left her bedroom door open but was way too uncomfortable to make her way back to shut it, so instead she shut the door to the bathroom before immediately locking herself in the toilet closet. She managed to efficiently strip off all the layers of her clothes without bending until she was standing in the tub/shower combo in just her panties. She would have sat on the toilet, but she figured it would be too difficult to get back up.

She slowly and very carefully pulled her panties down a few inches before looking down to inspect the damage. There was quite a bit of clear jelly lube on them even thought she had cleaned herself as thoroughly as she could before getting dressed but there was also blood. A surprisingly large amount of blood. Dr. Cox had said to expect spotting, but this was day two of her period level bleeding.

Claire just whimpered softly, full of pain and self-pity before she forced her underwear the rest of the way down and then used her foot to kick them into the corner of the bathroom. She grabbed a hair tie off the shelf over the toilet and pulled all of her hair into a pony-tail without pulling it all the way through, leaving it in a bun before she started the shower with the water set to as hot as it would go.

She whimpered again as the hot water hit her but slowly relaxed her body into it until the water started to burn her and she turned it to a more reasonable temperature. She was really starting to regret getting the IUD. She was just trying to make it until the pain stopped and then it would be worth it when she never had to deal with periods or think about birth control for the next five years. Her legs were shaking, and she couldn't seem to stop hugging herself tightly around the waist, so she just stood there in the shower, not moving and holding herself as she tried to relax against the hot water. After what must have been twenty minutes Claire finally pulled her hands away since the pain was finally starting to dull.

She looked down as she grabbed at her luffa and saw the blood mixing with water as it ran down the drain. She followed its trail to see it going all the way up her legs. She groaned aloud in frustration as she grabbed her body wash and started scrubbing almost violently against her body. It only took a few more minutes to thoroughly clean herself before she was turning off the water and stepping out as she wrapped a towel around herself.

Claire made her way out of her bathroom and into her room and was surprised by what she found on top of her unmade bed. Her laptop that had been downstairs on the kitchen table (where she had left it that morning after printing off her homework) was waiting for her next to the blue plastic tub filled with chocolate that was always kept on the top shelf of the pantry so that Jamie wouldn't find it.

Claire looked over to see that her door was closed and smiled to herself as she secretly wondered if her dad was currently trying to avoid her. She didn't care, she preferred solitude at the moment, but his gesture was sweet enough to make her make a mental note to hug him tightly the next time she saw him.

Claire quickly opened her top dresser drawer and immediately bypassed all of the lace to grab at a pair of blue and purple striped cotton panties that were cut like boy's boxers. They were incredibly comfortable but gave the worst panty lines no matter what she wore over top of them. She definitely didn't care at the moment though as she yanked them on and added the largest overnight sized maxi pad she could find under the cabinet since there was no way in hell she would be bringing a tampon anywhere near her for probably the rest of her life.

She pulled on a plain white sports bra that she usually hated to wear because it wasn't a razor back and the pull over style, though incredibly comfortable, looked exactly like a training bra. She found a pair of old worn out leggings that were navy blue and pulled them on even though she knew that not only would you be able to see the panty lines from her boy short panties, but you would probably be able to see the entire outline of her maxi-pad. She moved to her closet and was relieved when one of the first things she found was Quil's old giant Sea-Hawks hoodie hanging in front of her.

She pulled it on without bothering to put anything else on underneath it and since it covered her entire butt, figured it was the perfect thing to wear. She knew she looked like a period nightmare (which was pretty unfair since she had actually had her period the week before) but since she never wanted to see anyone else ever again, didn't care much about it as she slid into her bed and immediately pulled the tub of chocolate towards her. She opened her laptop and quickly found a romantic comedy on Netflix that she started as she snuggled into her pillows and wrapped the large sweatshirt tighter around her. She wished that it smelled like Quil instead of her own laundry detergent.

She was suddenly torn between her intense desire to have him there and the humiliation at just the thought of him witnessing her in a state she hoped he never had to see. She forced herself not to think about it as she gorged herself on chocolate and lost herself in the movie.

Claire sat up with a whimper when the movement ached through her core. She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep until Quil's warm hand had touched her shoulder.

"Hey, babe. You doing okay?" he asked softly as she tried get her bearings around her.

It was dark outside now and her laptop was on a screen saver, so the movie must have ended a while ago. The tub of chocolate was directly under her right arm like she was guarding it in her sleep and there was an embarrassing amount of chocolate wrappers from Hersey kisses, Andes mints, and last year's Reese's Easter egg cups. Quil was standing next to her at the side of her bed and must have turned on the lamp on her nightstand since that was the only light in the room. He was still wearing his boots, so he must have just walked in, and a pair of gray dark wash jeans with his usual gray colored V-neck t-shirt.

"What time is it?" she asked confused.

"Ten-thirty." He replied as she laid back against her pillow while brushing wrappers onto the floor and wrapping her arms around the ache inside of her. "What are you doing?" he asked confused.

Claire just shrugged as he reached over her and lifted her laptop off her bed before closing it and setting it on her desk.

"Can I take this or are you going to snap at me?" he teased as he reached for the tub of chocolate still under her arm.

"Ha ha." She replied sarcastically as she shoved it towards him and then rolled to bury her face in her pillow.

She heard him sigh as he slipped off his boots and then climbed over top of her to sit next to her on the bed.

"Sorry it took me so long to get over here. I texted you a couple times but now I see why you didn't respond." He said easily as he started digging through her bun of hair at the top of her head. "Bennett was being really weird today. He kept insisting that he needed my help with every little thing he had to do."

"Mmmhmm." Claire just moaned into her pillow since she knew if she looked at him he would immediately see the guilt written across her face.

"So, what's wrong?" he asked confused as he slid down closer to her and hooked his finger through the pocket at the front of her hoodie. As he moved closer she managed to catch a whiff of his scent and inhaled a large breath in response.

"Cramps." She replied without really looking at him.

She felt his body freeze around her in response and was immediately worried that he somehow knew she was lying and immediately knew everything about what had happened that afternoon.

"But…. Didn't you have your period last week?"

He sounded confused but not suspicious and Claire immediately blew out a sigh of relief. She simply shrugged her shoulders in response and gave a non-committal _I dunno_ sound.

She tensed against him as she waited for his response but then he just wrapped his arm around her and seemed to let it go without question. Instead of saying anything he just slid a hand under her hoodie to press his large hand against her bare midriff and let the heat radiating off it ease the ache inside of her.

It was silent for a moment as Claire flipped around so that her back was to him and he wouldn't have to hold his hand at an uncomfortable angle to keep it pressed against her stomach. He quickly wrapped his arm around her and slid farther down the bed as he pulled her closer.

"Can you stay tonight?" she asked so softly that she was glad they were actually dating because otherwise it would have been embarrassingly pathetic.

"Uh, yeah." He answered easily. "Bennett dropped me off and I don't have patrol tonight and I don't think anyone saw me coming in, so I should be fine to stay the night."

"Perfect." She sighed out in contentment.

"So…. If I'm staying the night, can I get comfortable first?" he asked sounding somewhere between curious and hesitant.

"Yeah, of course." Claire answered easily while feeling more awake after her five-hour nap. "If you grab my laptop we can watch a movie."

"Sounds like a plan, my chocoholic." He replied as he applied pressure against her stomach before pulling away to climb over her and stand up. He grabbed her laptop off her desk and handed to her before quickly shrugging out of his shirt.

The way he pulled his shirt off made him look like he should be in some sort of slow motion, black and white cologne add. Claire suddenly felt a flash of heat surge through her body and had to look away and quickly focus on her laptop to seem as normal as possible before he started to notice how obsessed she was with his chest and what it did to her when he took his shirt off like that.

He ran a hand through his hair as he stripped of his socks and then started to climb back over her.

"You can take your pants off." Claire said quietly, knowing how weird it would sound if she said it at a normal volume but also knowing that because of his ridiculously high body temperature he always slept in as few clothes as possible.

He pulled back to look at her before he asked doubtfully, "You sure?"

"Yeah, that's how you always sleep." She answered easily, wondering why he was hesitating.

"Well yeah… but…." He continued with his hands on the waist band of his jeans.

"What?" she asked confused.

"I didn't know if you'd want me sleeping in your bed with you in just my boxers." He replied.

Claire looked up at him from where she was still lying on the bed and rolled her eyes.

"Quil, I've slept next to you in your boxers only about a million times, why are you being so weird about it now?"

"I'm not being weird. We're just dating now and I'm trying to be respectful of you and your space." he replied casually.

"Well I appreciate that." She said sweetly, touched that he was being so sensitive to her needs, "But I don't want you to change who you are or the way you do things just because we're dating now."

"Alright, well since you're begging me to do it, I guess I'll just take my pants off." He teased.

Claire snorted in response but looked up just in time to see him slide his jeans off his hips. He suddenly looked a whole lot like this Abercrombie ad in the mall that Claire had secretly always found ridiculously hot. She had always found Quil attractive but somehow in the last few weeks he was having these intense effects on her at completely random times and if she was being honest she hated the way he could make her so hot and bothered without even trying when all she wanted to do was seem as cool and collected as possible.

"Don't get any ideas, now." He said teasingly when he looked up to catch her watching him as he stepped out of his jeans.

Claire had to look away and inhale a quick breath to hide her embarrassment since she had in fact been getting ideas while watching him.

"Don't worry, _nothing_ is going to be happening tonight." She replied darkly as she hugged her waist.

Quil quickly climbed over her and bent to kiss the inch of exposed skin at her waist that her sweat shirt had inched up to reveal.

"Nothing is going to be happening for a long while." He said easily as he laid down behind her and wrapped his hand back into its place on her stomach.

Claire bit her lip and was glad he couldn't see her face as she started messing with her laptop while thinking it might not be as long as he thought before _something_ happened in that regard. _At least I hope not! I might explode after one too many heat-flashes the next time he takes off his shirt!_

"What are we watching?" he whispered into her ear sending goosebumps all the way down her back as she restarted the movie she had fallen asleep watching. "Ah, _He's Just Not That into You_. Nice."

"Yup. Where do you think I learned all that self-respect while spending all those years waiting for you to notice me?" Claire whispered back over her shoulder.

He squeezed her waist before saying, "So, you _were_ crushing on me, huh?"

"Ehhh…" Claire replied while slowly blushing and laughing too much to force it back down.

"You were, weren't you!?" he said accusingly.

Claire shrugged and laugh some more before clamping a hand to her mouth to silence herself before they made too much noise and Jamie, or her parents heard them. "Maybe just a little bit." Claire finally admitted reluctantly as she shrugged around him.

"I knew it!" he replied triumphantly, sounding pleased with himself.

"But not enough to not date someone else." Claire replied cheekily over her shoulder.

"Oh! Ouch!" Quil said immediately as Claire laughed, pleased to have put him in his place.

They were quiet as they watched the movie for a few more minutes before Quil squeezed her tightly and leaned over to kiss her cheek.

"I'm sorry you're in so much pain." He whispered softly with his lips still against her face.

Claire smiled, feeling her cheek lift beneath his lips and said, "That's okay. I'll be fine." and was surprised that she meant it. But she realized with this ridiculously attractive man behind her, holding her in his arms as he bathed her in his love, that all of the pain she was in today would totally be worth it.

Claire woke up the next morning to a throbbing in her lower abdomen. She gave a gasp and opened her eyes to find herself face to face with Quil only about six in inches away from her. She had fallen asleep with him spooning her, but she must have turned in her sleep since he was still in the same position with his arm around her and she could feel his hot hand touching the skin of her lower back and making it sweat since her sweatshirt was also covering his hand and encapsulating its heat against her skin. She could see the light coming through her window and realized she had forgotten to set her alarm. The shower was running in their bathroom with Rachel in it and her dad was talking to Jamie in the hall right outside her door as her mom yelled off a list of groceries from their bedroom down the hall.

"Quil!" she whispered urgently as she brought her hand up and grabbed his shoulder.

He immediately opened his eyes, and Claire watched as he looked confused while he struggled to focus in on her so close to him.

"You gotta go!" she continued to whisper as soon as he had actually focused on her.

He brought his head up sharply as he looked around and took in the same scene as he listened to her family all around them.

"Oh, yeah! Crap! We can't get caught again. Your dad will kill me if he finds me like this!" he whispered back as he climbed over her in just his boxer-briefs and silently landed on his feet on the floor.

"Why do you suddenly have so many clothes!?" Claire whispered as she sat up grabbing her waist while she watched him quickly yank his jeans back on. She bent down to pick up his t-shirt while he hurriedly dug around under her bed looking for one of his socks. "Here put this on! I'll find it!"

He gratefully took his shirt from her and shrugged into it and then ran a hand through his hair as she located his missing sock around the corner from her bed.

He silently took it from her as he quickly yanked his socks on before shoving his feet inside his leather boots.

"Thanks!" he replied in the same hurried whisper as he stood up and took a step closer placing his hands on her waist.

He was leaning down to kiss her when there was a knock on the door making them both freeze in their tracks with their faces only inches from each other's.

"Claire!? Are you up yet? You're going to be late if you don't get moving!" her dad's voice called through the door.

"I'm up!" she yelled immediately as she turned her face toward the door and Quil leaned the rest of the way in and kissed her cheek.

"I was never here!" he whispered conspiratorially as he backed toward the window.

"Wait!" Claire said a little too loudly as she grabbed his arm and yanked him back to her.

He smiled as he raised his eyebrows warningly at her as he willingly came back and closed the gap between them until he was leaning down to meet her lips as she stretched on her toes obviously asking for a kiss.

She brought her hand up to his cheek as she closed her eyes and kissed him for a second before pulling back and letting him back away.

He winked at her as he slid her window open and then dropped out of sight. Claire immediately ran to close the window before the rain splattering down came in. She didn't look down to see if he made it as she ran back to her door to yell down the stairs back to her mom that was calling her name.

Thirty minutes later and Claire was walking in the door to first period. She had managed to get ready in less than twenty minutes by throwing on a gray long sleeve t-shirt style dress (she had first changed into a more normal pair of lace panties, knowing that the boy shorts she had been wearing would indeed have been a panty line nightmare) and thrown on her navy converses. She had just redone her pony tail bun since when she had pulled it out it was apparent her hair would not be cooperative enough to do anything else. She had thrown on a pair of earrings to make her look more intentional and less like she woke up late in bed with her boyfriend. Keeping her makeup simple by focusing on her eyeliner and mascara which brought out her light brown eyes giving her enough time to then simply ran out the door and make it to school just in time.

She could see Bennett looking exhausted, shlumped over his desk as she made her way to him.

"Hey!" she said excitedly.

She was in a surprisingly good mood despite the mild cramps she was still experiencing. She accredited it to waking up with Quil in her bed, even if it had given them both a mild anxiety attack to sneak him out before someone caught them.

"Uhhh!" he grunted without opening his eyes. His cheek was squished against the desk with his face in her direction.

"Rough night huh?"

"I had patrol until three and when I got back I had twelve texts from Macy. Twelve, Claire! Plus, three emails, two missed calls and five voicemails! How is that even possible!? How can you leave more voicemails than missed calls!?" by the end Bennett had sat up to look at her and she could see the deep circles under his eyes.

"Wow." Claire said in disturbed disbelieve. "I have no idea…. What did she want?"

"That's the thing… I still don't know! She just kept going on and on about a bunch of random stuff. By the time I called her back she was hysterical that I had abandoned her and broken all of my promises and I still have no idea what the hell she was talking about." Bennett said as he put his face in both of his hands.

"Sorry." Claire replied since she was and didn't know what else she could say about it since ' _just ditch her and I'll introduce you to a friend'_ wasn't a viable option for an imprint relationship.

"And before my patrol I was stuck dragging Quil around for like 8 hours! Why didn't you ever text me back!?" he asked obviously agitated.

"I feel asleep after I took a pain pill. Sorry, I didn't mean for you to feel like you couldn't let him leave you for hours on end." Claire admitted.

She only added the part about the pain pill in hopes he would be more sympathetic and less annoyed at her since she felt so bad that he had had such a long night and she had obviously added to it.

He looked over at her in a little surprise as he asked cautiously, "How'd it go?"

"Awful." Claire answered immediately as she pulled her textbook out to try to finish some of the problems she had skipped doing in favor of eating chocolate and watching Netflix.

He looked at her more sympathetically before he asked, "Did they really probe you?"

"Oh my gosh, Bennett! It was like a medieval torture chamber! You have no idea how lucky you are to have such uncomplicated sex organs!" she told him in a quieter voice, so they wouldn't be overheard. "You know how people always joke about how when a doctor says you'll feel a little pressure expect to feel a bunch of pain? Well, I always thought that was an exaggeration until yesterday. _It is not_!"

She hadn't planned on telling him about her appointment but since he was the only one who knew about it (and therefore the only one who could sympathize with her) she found it a relief to get some of it off her chest.

"Yikes!" Bennett said sounding almost afraid as he leaned slightly away from her just in case her vaginal pain was somehow contagious.

Claire put her face in her hands as she muttered. "It was seriously so terrible! I'm still in pain. They said to expect it for the next three weeks or so."

She felt Bennett's hand land slightly awkwardly on her back as he did some sort of combination of a rub and pat as he tried to sooth her. He was clearly deeply sympathetic for her but at an obvious loss as to how to comfort her.

Claire gave a small chuckle as she looked back up at him and saw his deeply troubled face. She knew he was way out of his depth with this conversation but appreciated his willingness to try to help.

"Thanks." She said simply as she ran her hand up against her hair. "Hey, do you think I should cut bangs?"

He immediately looked relieved at the change in subject like she knew he would be. He responded by giving her a confused looked like wasn't sure what she was talking about.

"You know." Claire demonstrated as she moved her hand back and forth across her forehead to indicate bangs.

"Like Carol's?" he asked sounding doubtful.

Carol had a severe straight across bang that hit right at her eyebrows and made her look like a very angry runway model. Super trendy but not necessarily super flattering.

"No." Claire answered quickly. "More like Cindy's." She used her hand to demonstrate an arch shape around her face.

"Oh. Yeah, I think that'd be cute." He replied easily.

"You think I could pull it off? Even with the blonde?" she asked.

"Yeah." He said casually like it wasn't a big deal.

"I wonder if Quil would like it." She wondered aloud.

Bennett snorted a little bit as he started flipping through his book and more people came in and started sitting down as they prepared for class to begin.

"You could completely shave your head and Quil wouldn't care."

Claire laughed before she said, "That's probably true! But _you'll_ keep me from making a horrible hair cutting decision right!?"

"Oh yeah. I'd tell you in a heartbeat if you were going to be making a mistake." He replied immediately without even looking up. "Wait, you aren't going to shave your head, are you?" he suddenly teased, and Claire chucked the end of her eraser at him just as the bell rang and class began.

Claire was in the middle of second period over an hour later when someone poked her. She looked up from her notes to see Katie sitting at the seat next to her with Macy sitting directly across the table from her since it was too late in the semester for them to switch groups. Katie just nodded her head towards the door and Claire followed her gestured to see Bennett through the vertical window of the classroom door staring directly at her and waving his hands energetically in front of him trying to get her attention. She immediately looked at him and then whipped her head around to look at Macy who was closely watching the exchange between them with her brows pulled closely together. Claire shot a look at Major G at the front of the room to see if she had noticed the distraction going on at her table in the back. She was still facing the board and going over the power point she was pointing at.

Claire quickly looked back at Bennett with a questioning look on her face as she used her thumb to point towards Macy. Bennett immediately shook his head emphatically and pointed directly back at her. She used her four fingers to point back towards herself as she gave him the same questioning face. He started nodding his head in answer and Macy immediately scoffed and muttered " _Typical_." under her breath. Claire ignored her as she watched Bennett start to wave his hand hurriedly toward himself gesturing for her to come to him.

Claire nodded her head in confusion since she had only said goodbye to him twenty minutes ago and had no idea why he would be so desperate to see her. If he had something to say why hadn't he just texted her from class? She snuck another look at Major G. but thankfully she was still distracted at the board before she started to get off her stool and move towards the door only a few feet away in the dark class room. She stopped when Bennett held up his hand and then started pointing and gesturing for her to grab her bag and then hurry out to him. Claire looked at him in total confusion as she grabbed her bag, but he just continued to gesture for her to hurry.

"Uh! Major- I mean, Ms. Geraldy?" Claire suddenly spoke, loudly interrupting her lecture from where she was standing up holding her bag next to her stool.

Her teacher just looked up at her in confusion.

"Can I go to the nurse? I'm not feeling well." Claire asked quickly since she couldn't see how she could just sneak out without anyone noticing and how her absence would ever go undetected.

"Sure. Of course, Claire. Just go." She answered easily as she went back to her lecture.

Claire didn't pause before heading to the door where Bennett was clearly anxiously waiting for her.

" _Bitch_." She heard Macy mutter under her breath right as she was opening the door.

She ignored her again and quickly shut the door behind her as Bennett grabbed the top of her arm.

"Hey, what's up!? What's wrong?" she asked looking up at him in confusion.

"I gotta get you out of here." He answered quickly, and Claire could see from his unusually serious demeanor that something was obviously very wrong.

"What's going on, Bennett?" she asked nervously as she followed next to him, letting him lead her by the arm as he practically dragged her down the hall.

"I can't get up with Quil. Have you heard from him today?" he asked looking over at her as he continued to walk at a brisk pace down the hall.

"Not since this morning. I mean I saw him before school. Why? Is something wrong? Were you _supposed_ to hear from him?" Claire asked immediately starting to feel a sense of panic.

"No, but I need him to get you out of here. Dean Witmore was arrested this morning." He replied in his still serious voice.

"What!?" Claire asked planting her feet as she stopped in complete shock at his response. "He was _arrested_!? Why?"

Bennett stopped to turn and look at her before he replied, "They haven't stated the charges yet. The only part of the investigation that is public record is that _you_ are the one that filed the initial complaint that opened the investigation against him."

"Okay?" Claire asked confused.

Her heart was pounding, and she felt a sense of adrenalin but wasn't sure why since her initial panic that something was wrong with Quil had passed and the thought that the Dean was behind bars should cause her nothing but relief.

"So, what does that mean?" she asked him a little desperately, feeling like she was missing something.

"It means that a lot of people; students, faculty, random people around the reservation, are really upset that a seemingly stand up member of the community was arrested for apparently no reason and the only person they have to blame is you." He answered while looking down at her with an unusually tense look on his face that communicate (probably more so than his words) how serious the situation was.

Claire swallowed as she felt her eyes widen drastically.

"You think someone might try to hurt me?" she could hear her voice crack with nervousness.

Bennett simply tilted his head to the side as he raised his eyebrows and said, "You really wanna stick around to find out?"

Claire immediately nodded her head in understanding as she grabbed onto his arm next to her.

"We need to get ahold of Quil." She said in a calm voice that was all business.

"Ya think?" he asked sarcastically as they quickly made their way to the doors of the parking lot and then ran to his car.


	20. Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

 **Quil:**

Quil was just walking through the door to the garage when his phone rang in his pocket. It was only 7:30 AM and he was just getting home from spending the night with Claire, so he couldn't figure who would be calling him so early in the morning unless it was his mother. He pulled the phone out gingerly, making sure to not answer on accident as he wrestled it out of his pocket. He had already unintentionally answered the phone for his mother once in the last week and was not eager to repeat the experience. He made his way up the stairs to his apartment as he looked down at the phone in his hand for the first time. It was an unknown number.

Quil only hesitated for a second before deciding to answer since he also took business calls on his phone.

"This is Quil." He answered officially.

"Quil!" A rough voice said intensely, almost yelling it.

"What?" Quil asked thrown off as he opened the door and had to step to the side as Butch almost plowed him over in his haste to be let out. "Who is this!?"

"Quil! It's Paul!"

"Paul?" he asked with almost complete disbelieve.

Quil had known Paul for the last twenty years at least. He had even shared thoughts with the hot head so it was safe to say he knew him pretty well but that didn't necessarily make them friends… Brothers? Hell yes. But friends? Not so much. He hadn't seen him since the last bonfire and even then, they had exchanged a total of five words that mostly consisted of how much everyone hated Macy. He didn't think Paul had call him before, ever. In fact, Quil hadn't even program Paul's number into his phone since he had no socializing reasons to have it and if it was official pack business then Jake could convey it to him since he was the true alpha and Paul's brother-in-law.

"Yeah, it's Paul. You know, Lahote? Used to be a big wolf…. I tried to bite your head off on multiple occasions… Any of this ringing a bell?" Paul replied sarcastically.

"Quit being an ass. I know who you are, Paul. The question is, why are you suddenly calling me?" Quil asked as he ran a hand over his face. It was too early for this. He hadn't had any coffee yet and hadn't even had a chance to take a shower.

"It's Ty." Paul answered seriously, clearly back to the business at hand.

"What about him?" Quil asked, confused as to why the hell Paul would be calling him about his first child. He was just praying he wasn't about to ask him to babysit.

"He phased." Paul answered immediately.

Quil completely froze with his hand in the air since he had been reaching in the cabinet to grab a mug.

"What?" he asked, positive he must have misheard.

"Tyler. He phased." Paul repeated sounding remarkably unconcerned about it.

"Wha- No. No, you're kidding me. You're being an ass again. This is a joke, right? A hazing on Quil because I'm the old guy still phasing, and having to keep Leah and the younger guys in line, right?"

"Quil, I'm tell you man, I'm staring at him right now. The kid had a sex ed test he was supposed to take at school today that had him all….. I don't even know how to explain it… _hormonal_ I guess and then bam, here he is… I'm looking right at him! He's huge. Like a giant gangly gray wolf. He almost looks like a coyote he's so skinny and awkward. Reminds me of Seth a bit, you know?" Paul replied seriously while sounding much calmer than Quil felt.

"What!? No! Tyler isn't even old enough. He can't have. You were like eighteen when you phased so even if he was going to it wouldn't be for like eight more years." Quil said feeling like he just wanted Paul to admit that he was mistaken or messing with him.

"He's thirteen, dude, so I don't know what to tell you!" Paul said getting agitated and starting to sound a lot more like the younger Paul that Quil was more familiar with. "Ask Brady and Collin about pubescent phasing if you're curious but he's my son and Jacob's nephew, he's got the gene on both sides and I am sitting here in my backyard with a very bouncy new wolf while Rachel is freaking out! So, can you just get your ass down her and do you're damn job!?"

"No. No. no no no no." Quil was muttering to himself before Paul even finished snapping at him. "No. No. no no no. Bennett was a freak. He was an anomaly. He couldn't have been the beginning of a new wolf generation, it's just too much. I'm not Sam! And we all know I'm _definitely_ not Jake. Paul! I'm not cut out for this shit! I can't be hand holding and babysitting all this-"

"Quil!" Paul yelled over top of him, getting his attention.

"What!?" he yelled back just as loudly.

"Put your tampon in and phase already! I have no idea what's going on in his head right now! So, hang up the damn phone and bitch to Jacob later!"

Quil pulled the phone away from his ear and squeezed it in frustration as he put it to his mouth and had to use a significant amount of self-control to not crush it. He sucked in a quick breath before putting it back to his ear and saying in a rush as he moved toward the door,

"I'm on my way."

He hung up before Paul could answer. Butch passed him on the stairs as he ran out, all thoughts of coffee and a hot shower and breakfast forgotten. He realized as he ran across the wet grass to the cover of the trees that he hadn't put his boots back on since absentmindedly taking them off while he was talking to Paul. His socks were soaked by the time he got to the tree line, so he just stopped there, barely out of sight of some nosey neighbors and stripped them off and then immediately reached for his jeans and yanked them off so that they took his boxer-briefs with them.

Half of him was still completely certain that this was just a joke. If it had been Jared that had called, he would have been sure of it. They were somehow just trying to get him to phase so that they could steal his clothes and then he would have been stuck without any or _something_ …. But if it _had_ been Jared….. Jared's oldest boy was only a couple years younger than Tyler…. Tate was probably eleven now… if this was really happening again how long would it be until he phased too? Sam had two boys too…. Sam Junior was already twelve… and that was just in the pubescent category… the three of them all had more boys that would be hitting puberty within the next five years… and that was just the boys! What if they had another Leah!? If there was a lot of boys in the pack descendants, it was nothing to the number of girls!

Quil's head was starting to ache just from thinking about the alarming possibilities and he still wasn't convinced the whole thing wasn't a prank. He should have grabbed his shorts and tie… he needed to make it over to La Push and he would be smart to have something to throw on when he got there… too late now. He quickly yanked off his t-shirt and threw it by the pile of his clothes on the ground without looking and then lunged his entire body forward like he was willingly going to face-plant on the mossy forest floor except that before he even had a chance to fall he was exploding and then running on all fours.

Sure enough, as soon as he was a wolf, there was an unfamiliar voice in his head. Things had been so quiet around the area for so many years that they had stopped 24/7 patrols, instead opting for a much more manageable schedule of one to two wolves running patrols at night and looking for scents that might have been missed during the day. Since Collin had gotten off the late-late shift no one had been in a wolf form when Tyler had phased so it was just Quil and Ty. He was surprised by the kids thought process though.

There must be something to be said for growing up as a wolf legacy, because this kid wasn't freaking out at all. He knew exactly what had happened to him and he was just calmly sitting in his parent's backyard watching his mom cry silently into his dad's shoulder. He himself wasn't even thinking distinct thoughts, he was literally just panting. He was in his mind, panting with excitement about being a wolf and how badass he thought that was.

The whole thing was so disorientating to Quil that it took a couple seconds of just running to acclimate himself to the unfamiliar sensation of a new mind, especially one that wasn't reacting the way he had been expecting.

Quil suddenly saw the view in his mind's eye shift as Tyler's view of his backyard lifted slightly when he perked his head up.

 _Oh hey, Uncle Quil! Took you long enough!_ Tyler greeted him excitedly.

 _Uh hey, Tyler…. Sorry, this is just really unexpected… How you feeling, man?_

Quil replied as he continued the run in his direction.

 _This is so sick! I'm a wolf and I'm huge! You should have seen my dad's face!_ He thought excitedly before pulling up the memory of Paul's face when he had phased which was hysterical and had Quil barking out a laugh.

 _That's awesome, Ty! Well, glad you're handling it pretty well. You wanna try to phase back or you wanna wait until I get there?_

 _What!? No! I haven't even gotten to run yet! Aren't I supposed to go through all sorts of rite of passages now before I have to go back to being human again!?_

 _Um…. No…. There is no sort of hazing before you turn back into a real boy…. Would you want there to be?_ Quil thought, feeling incredibly confused with this boy's reactions.

 _Well no… but it seems like there should be something significant to show that I'm part of the pack now…._ He replied as he stood up and started wagging his tail, too excited to sit still any longer.

 _And being able to turn into a giant-sized animal isn't significant enough for you to feel like an official member of the pack!?_

 _So, it's official!? I really am a member of the pack!?_

He was all sorts of excited and started jumping up and down.

 _Yeah, kid, for better or worse you're part of us now._ Quil thought with a tone of solemnity, sure that there was no way Tyler understood the weight of the responsibility that came with that.

Paul was suddenly in Tyler's face and Ty was getting a kick out of having to look down to see him instead of always looking up at him.

"Is it Quil? Did he turn? Are you talking to him?" Paul asked somewhere between calm and amused and annoyed.

Tyler gave a small yelping bark in reply and his parents immediately shushed him as they looked around themselves making sure they didn't have any neighbors poking their heads over the fence.

 _Jeesh. I'm a freaking wolf right now! How do they expect me to answer? Learn wolf sign language?_ Tyler thought mostly to himself in agitation

Quil barked another laugh in response as he officially crossed the line into La Push territory. He was finding Tyler's ambivalent attitude towards his father highly entertaining. Paul had been such a pain in the ass as a wolf that now seeing his own son's sarcastic wolf response (that a wolf Paul would have lost his shit over if he could hear them) were hilarious. The real trip for Quil was realizing that he had been a wolf for so long he had now served in the pack with Paul as a teenager and then a whole generation later with his son, all while his own life had basically stayed the same. It was a fairly sobering thought.

Paul was now trying to push Tyler into the tree line so that he could disappear into the woods without being seen but Ty was extremely hesitant to go since his parents had railed into him since birth to never go wondering around in the woods for fear of either being drained alive by a vampire or (much more realistically) being in the way of a wolf running patrol and potentially causing an accident.

Quil got there seconds later and let his brown head stick far enough out the shadow of the trees covering him for the Lahotes to see. Tyler sensed him in his mind at the same time he picked up his scent. His skills needed some serious honing, but he was young and new and Quil had high hopes for him. He gave a jerk of his head as he thought a simple,

 _Come on, Kid. There's nothing in these woods that should scare you now._

Ty immediately followed him without question. As he turned towards the woods and bounded away from his parents Quil got his first good look at him. Paul had been right, he was seriously gangly. He looked like a one-year-old puppy with his giant paws and then long thin legs. He had slightly large and pointy ears that made him almost look like a dingo if it weren't for the silver-gray fur that turned black towards his paws, ears, and tail. He was also huge. Not as big as Jacob but definitely bigger than Paul had been. He was probably just a little smaller than Sam had been, and his shoulders met up easily with Quil's.

Ty made the first child of a wolf/imprint relationship that had phased into a wolf and if this was a sign of what they would all be like then Quil was going to start rethinking all the reasons behind imprinting. Nothing could change the fact that Claire was 100% his soulmate but one look at Tyler and all Quil could see was _breeding._ Imprinting had bred a bigger, stronger wolf. And if Ty's gangly awkwardness was any indication, then he was just going to grow bigger and stronger over the next few months.

 _What?_ Tyler asked happily as he bounded next to Quil in the woods.

Quil wondered if the kid was just excited or if he was always so bouncy.

 _Excited!_ He answered easily without being asked. _What was that you were thinking about my size…. I look different?_

 _A little…._ Quil admitted hesitantly.

 _Different how? Like bad different?_ He asked nervously.

 _No…. You're just bigger… maybe even stronger, than the average wolf._ Quil explained.

 _Really!? But I'm the same size as you._ He thought excitedly.

 _Yeah, but you shouldn't be. You'll keep growing for the next few months, so you shouldn't start out already bigger than your alpha. You're already bigger than Paul ever was._

 _Seriously!?_

Apparently, the thought of being bigger than his dad was enough to make Tyler ecstatic.

 _Whoa there, kid, reign it in a bit….._ Quil thought with a laugh at the pup of a wolf that was literally bouncing off the ground in excitement.

He was about to start on a run for Tyler to follow so that they could test his speed and strength when the wind suddenly changed direction, coming from the East and bringing a sharp scent with it.

Tyler immediately started whining as his front legs folded, bringing his head down to the ground in pain. Quil's head whipped around towards the scent.

 _What is THAT!? Why does it burn!? How can a smell hurt!?_ Tyler thought frantically as he continued to whine aloud.

He had just confirmed to Quil his suspicion that Tyler's senses were actually stronger than the rest of theirs. His slightly larger and pointier ears had made Quil wonder if he would be able to hear farther and the fact that the vampire scent was affecting him so strongly confirmed his stronger sense of smell.

 _Tyler, stop. You're giving away our position!_ Quil immediately instructed as he tried hard to focus on the scent they were both catching through his own nose and ignore the way he was picking it up in Tyler's brain. 

Tyler immediately stopped whining. _What is it!? Why does it hurt!?_

 _Ty, shut up! I need to think!_ Quil yelled in his head, trying to think past all of Tyler's thinking and process the scent and come up with a plan that didn't involve sending a thirteen-year-old to his death as his only back up.

 _Okay, got it!_ He thought before sitting up and letting three short howls ring out in succession. He sounded almost like a siren as he signaled for his pack that thankfully mostly resided in La Push. He repeated his siren wolf howl call once more and then started pacing impatiently as he waited.

 _What's happening?_ Tyler asked confused. He couldn't follow Quil's processing as he jumped to conclusions and sprang into action without having to think things through constantly.

 _Ty, you just got your first taste of leech-stink._ Quil informed him as he kept pacing and forced himself to remain calm as his heart began pumping the adrenalin through his body the way it always did when he was tensing and ready for a fight.

 _SICK! Let's go! I can't believe I get to rip apart a bloodsucker on my first day!_

Quil stopped in his tracks to look over at him sternly as he replied. _Trust me, kid, you don't! You can watch from the sidelines but that's it._

 _Oh, COME ON! I want to come!_ Tyler immediately whined sounding like a petulant ten-year-old and making Quil feel like he was not up for another decade of holding hands and doling out ignored commands to pubescent wolves who needed training and a strong dose of reality.

 _I'm too old for this shit._ He thought to himself even as he started feeling the excitement coursing through him in preparation for the fight that was seconds away from happening. This was the reason he had been content to stay a wolf for so long. The fighting parts. The ripping vampires to shred part. That was the satisfying part that he lived for.

Tyler had been about to respond when they both felt the presence of Brady and Leah joining them in their shared mind.

There was a single moment of completely chaotic confusion and then,

 _TYLER!?_ Leah and Brady both asked in simultaneous shock.

 _Hi!_ he replied excitedly.

 _Wh-wh-wh….. when did this happen!?_ Leah asked, managing to stutter even in her mind.

 _About twenty minutes ago._ Quil answered. _But we don't have time to focus on that._ He quickly let his mind scroll through the last three minutes since they had caught the scent. Brady was closer as they both made their way to the spot where Quil and Ty had stopped, and he could smell the scent now too.

 _How many?_ Leah asked and Quil could feel her and Brady's minds immediately focused and in action mode.

 _At least three, but they have a head start and they definitely picked up the pace when they heard my call. Where's Collin?_ Quil replied.

 _He crashed after his late shift. I went to work so I wasn't at his place, but I doubt he heard you're signal._ She answered quickly. 

_Alright, we'll have to go without him._ Quil quickly decided, not liking the even numbers but not seeing what other choice he had.

 _Bennett?_ Brady asked thinking in similarly to Quil.

 _He's in school on the Makah Rez. Which is exactly where I want him to stay._ He replied with certainty.

 _With Claire?_ Brady assumed.

 _And Macy._ Quil answered. _Sofia?_

 _She went wedding dress shopping with her mom in Seattle. We should be covered._ Brady explained right as he reached them.

Anytime the pack had to spring into action to do their official vampire-fighting business they always did a double check to make sure that every imprint was safely accounted for and out of harm's way first before charging ahead so that they could all focuswithout worry or distraction. Every imprint was of crucial importance to the pack and they all needed to be protected.

Leah ran up at full speed and had to dig her feet into the ground to stop her fast approach. She ended up spraying dirt and moss up all over Tyler in front of her.

 _Whoa, he's huge!_ Leah thought as she got a good look at him for the first time. Her head barely cleared his shoulder.

 _Not the time. Alright, Tyler, YOU are going to run a close circuit here around La Push. Do not stray from this circle._ Quil instructed as he thought through the close route he wanted Tyler to follow and used the double timbre of an Alpha command.

He hated to law down the law on the kid without giving him a chance to do it on his own, but this was too important to leave the chance of him screwing it up. There was no way that Tyler Lahote was going to get hurt fighting vampires before he had even had a chance to be trained. Not on Quil's watch.

 _Alright, alright_. He agreed slightly confused from the weight of the command.

 _Try to focus your senses, especially your smell. Stay focused on what's in front of you not what's happening in your mind. If you smell anything off, anything at all, you call for help, got it?_

 _Yeah, I got it._ He answered slightly nervously.

 _Alright good. You two good with going after them with even numbers? I don't think we have time to grab Bennett or Collin, but I don't like dragging your asses into a fight we don't necessarily have the upper hand in._ Quil thought towards Brady and Leah as he hesitated for just a second.

 _Screw that! Let's go already!_ Brady thought immediately.

 _We got this, Quil. Let's go before we lose them!_ Leah thought just as eagerly.

 _Alright! Let's go!_ Quil agreed as he took off running and Brady and Leah followed right behind falling into rank with Leah on his right side and Brady on his left while Ty stayed behind, slightly dumbfounded by their quick reaction time before shaking himself out of it and sprinting to follow the circuit Quil had laid out in his mind for him.

Eight hours later and Quil was standing at the side door to his garage. For a second, he thought that it was because his hand was shaking so badly that he couldn't open it before he realized that it was locked. He dug the keys out of the jeans balled in his hand and grabbed his phone as it fell out of his pocket. He tried to check the time but realized it was dead. He somehow managed to unlock the door and pushed inside past it without bothering to close it behind him.

The first thing he noticed was that Bennett's car was parked inside his garage over top of the spot with the lift and that the garage door was closed. He didn't have enough energy left in him to wonder why as he struggled up the stairs and then grabbed the handle to open his apartment. His hand kept sliding over and around it before he looked down to realize that it was also locked and that the blood on his hand was what was making it slip all over it.

 _Come on, Quil! Get your shit together! Nothing you haven't seen before!_ He kept telling himself as he forced himself to focus through the flash of recollection when he had had the tall dirty-blonde female by the arm, she had just been about to take a swipe out of him with her free arm when Leah had jumped from her hidden flanking position and ripped her head off in one sharp move. Even for Leah it had been smooth and impressive.

Quil grabbed a fistful of the t-shirt he had just barely thrown on when he finally stopped for the first time in the woods outside the shop. He squeezed at it tightly before releasing it and then wiping off the blood directly against the fabric pressed onto his stomach. He grabbed his keys again and forced his hand to stop shaking long enough to force the key in the knob and then turned it until the door opened with it.

He stepped inside his apartment and immediately Butch stood in front of him looking at him like he expected a full explanation. Quil didn't respond to him as he dropped his jeans and socks that were in his hand on the floor and looked up to see the only light in his dark apartment was coming from the tv against the wall. He didn't know what was playing but he could see the different blue lights coming from it bouncing around as they illuminated Claire and Bennett, clearly both asleep on top of his bed. They were lying about two feet away from each other. Bennett's face was pointed directly towards the tv where he had obviously fallen asleep watching and Claire's face was pointed away from him towards the living room, but Bennett's arm was stretched across the gap and his hand was lying on top of the light gray material of Claire's dress with his hand pressed directly on her stomach.

Quil had no idea why they were there or how long they had been there (or why Bennett's hand was on top of his girlfriend's stomach), but he didn't try to figure it out as he moved forward and immediately grabbed the bottle of bourbon from the back of his nightstand right next to Bennett asleep on his spot on the bed.

 _Get over it, Quil! You've seen this before!_ He told himself again as he tried to shake the images out of his head and had a flash of Brady ripping a leg directly from its socket. He tried to focus on that one since it wasn't one of the images that was disturbing him.

No, the image that was disturbing him was the one of the girl with the big brown eyes and long brown hair staring directly at him like she knew him. He hadn't even been able to look at Claire since he had walked in.

He took the bottle of bourbon into the kitchen and set it on the counter as Butch followed directly behind him. The dog hadn't made a peep since he had come in. He must had been able to sense Quil's distress that he couldn't seem to get any control over.

Quil grabbed a glass out of the cabinet and then accidentally hit it against the bottle of bourbon when his shaking hand went to set it on the counter causing the glass to clink as they collided. Her heard Claire sit up behind him, but he had his back toward her as he faced the counter and the kitchen.

"Quil?" her soft voice asked.

He didn't respond as he pulled the stopper out of the bottle and let it drop from his hand before dumping the last third of the bottle into the glass, filling it completely. Claire must have woken up Bennett next to her because he was the next to speak.

"Quil, where have you been, man!? I've tried to call you like twenty-five times!"

He sounded pissed but Quil barely registered it as he drank half the glass in a single gulp.

"Quil? What happened? Are you hurt?" Claire asked in a hurried voice, sounding worried as she jumped off the bed and came to him.

"No." he muttered as he shook his head in answer to her question.

He wasn't sure if she hadn't heard him or just didn't believe him, but she was at his side a second later with her hands under his arms on either side of his chest, she twisted him slightly as she ran her hands a few inches down his chest and inspected his body for injury.

"Whose blood is it?" she asked quietly as she continued her inspection of him.

"Not mine." He admitted and realized for the first time that it was on more than just his hands.

Claire took a deep breath like she was bracing herself before she asked, "Was someone else hurt? Brady, or Collin?"

Quil shook his head as he looked back down at his glass. He could feel the lump lodging in his throat as he shook his head and replied,

"No. None of us were hurt."

He quickly brought the glass back to his mouth and dumped the rest of its contents down his throat. He could hear Bennett's slightly elevated heartbeat behind him, but the kid was being unusually silent while he listened to Claire question him.

She put a hand on his back and started rubbing up and down it slowly in a way that felt like a soothing balm directly to his soul. It was like her touch and contact were physically healing him of emotional wounds.

"How many?" she asked in a quiet voice.

Quil swallowed down the lump in his throat as he put his knuckles on the counter and leaned against them as he kept his eyes focused on the counter below him.

"Three." He admitted while the weight of it hit him fully for the first time. "Girls." He choked. "They were about your age."

He suddenly pulled his hands up and started rubbing them against his shirt in a desperate attempt to rid himself of the blood of the girls he had failed to save.

"Why didn't you call me to help?" Bennett asked quietly behind him but Quil ignored him as he struggled to clean his hands of the stain of blood on his skin.

"Hey, hey, hey. I'm here, Quil. I'm right here." Claire said confidently but he could hear the tears in her voice. She grabbed his face in her hands and pulled at him. He resisted her, preferring to focus on trying to use his t-shirt to rub the skin off his hands. She used what was probably all her strength until he finally obliged her and turned to look at her for the first time. "It's going to be okay, Quil."

Her voice was so quiet, but she said it with so much confidence that he knew she was right, but that somehow made it all worse. Why should everything be okay for him when he had completely failed at his job and it would never again be okay for those three girls and their families?

He turned away to lean forward against the counter as he rested on his elbows and put his face in his stained hands while the silent tears started leaking out of his eyes and down his face. Claire slipped her hand underneath his shirt so that her skin was pressed directly against his back and he was immediately appreciative of her contact.

"You need to get out there. Leah is waiting to brief you and Collin before she can phase back again." He said calmly even though his voice was dead. It was clear from his tone that he was speaking to Bennett behind him.

He could hear his approach before Bennett slapped a hand to his shoulder and muttered,

"I'm sorry, man."

Quil didn't respond other than to nod with his face still in his hands.

"You okay here with him?" he heard Bennett ask Claire a little doubtfully.

"Yeah, I got him." She answered confidently as she continued to rub circles around his back.

"Tell him, Claire. You got it?" Bennett ordered her in a voice that held a surprising amount of authority for a kid that was usually such a clown.

"I will." She replied certainly and Quil had just enough energy to wonder what they were talking about before Bennett quietly walked away from them and slipped out the door, leaving them alone together.

They stood there silently while Claire continued to soothingly rub Quil's back and he continued to release the silent flow of tears into his hands he had no idea where they stemmed from. He had never reacted this way after a fight ended badly. But then again, it had never been on him before when it did end poorly. It had never been his fault. His responsibly.

They stayed that way for a few minutes before Claire sniffed and used her free hand to wipe at her nose and face. He hadn't realized until that moment that she was crying with him.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up, babe." She said quietly but confidently.

He stood up and let her turn him as she put both of her hands on his chest and then led him towards the bathroom. His hands were shaking, and he couldn't get the image out of his mind. It just kept flashing back to him. Haunting him. The girl that somehow looked just like Claire. The long dark hair, the dark eyes, the tall and thin body structure but mostly just her calm demeanor. She had been the last one they had kept alive. Her friends were already dead and drained, but the Male had kept her alive as leverage while Quil, Brady, and Leah had ripped the two females to shreds.

She didn't even look scared as he held her body in front of him like a shield. She looked directly into Quil's wolf eyes and it was like she knew he was there. That he was a person and not just a wild animal fighting the monsters who had stolen her and her friends.

"Please." She whispered desperately but she wasn't begging. She wasn't even talking to the bloodsucker that was holding her. She was speaking directly to Quil, asking him for help, asking him to save her.

And then the bloodsucker had broken her neck. Just snapped it in the space of a single heartbeat and she was dead before he couldn't seem to resist any longer and dived teeth first into her jugular. Quil had been so stunned he had lost the millisecond of advantage he'd had to strike and somehow after abandoning his kill the leech had gotten away.

They had chased him for miles, always just a little behind, until they had been gone so long they started to worry the two they had left ripped apart would start to put themselves back together.

They returned to burn the shredded remains of the females and then bury the bodies of the three teenaged girls in an unmarked grave. No one would ever know what had happened to them.

Quil himself phased back to human and lifted the body of the dark-haired girl into her grave. She was still pouring blood out of her neck and her head hung in an almost grotesque position because her neck had been snapped. Her wallet fell out of her pocket and landed on the ground when he was lowering her into the large grave she would shave for eternity with her friends. It was a man's brown leather wallet and it fell open to reveal her ID inside of it.

 _Allison Proseke._ She was eighteen-years-old.

 _Ali._ Quil thought as he placed the wallet gently on top of her chest. For some reason he was certain she had gone by Ali, not Allison. He wished he hadn't seen her name. Now she would forever haunt him, not just as the beautiful face but also as the person he had never saved. Ali.

Quil had stopped the ridiculous tears but he couldn't stop his hands from shaking as he walked numbly beside Claire until they were standing inside his shower. The same shower they had stood in almost a week before, only the circumstances of the two parallel moments were different.

He felt Claire's hands pressed lovingly to his face for a second as she inspected his face for any injury before grabbing the hem of his t-shirt and lifting it softly above his head. He raised his arms obediently as she stripped it off him and then gently set it in the sink behind her.

"It's going to be okay, Quil." She repeated, and he tried to focus on her words and the sound of her voice instead of the images of utter failure that kept infiltrating his brain.

He didn't reply as she grabbed the waist of his boxer-briefs that had been the only thing besides his t-shirt he had put on after phasing back outside of his shop and pulled them down until he stepped out of them. She tossed them in the corner of the bathroom before she reached around him to turn on the shower, leaving the water at a mildly warm temperature, somehow knowing that he didn't want it hot against his skin that felt like it was burning with shame and failure.

It wasn't until she stepped away from the spray of the water hitting him as she rolled up the long sleeves of her dress, that he realized she had said just the week before that she didn't want to see him naked. He didn't react to the realization, knowing it was already too late since he was standing naked in front of her and he didn't have nearly enough strength in him to send her away. He just let the water run down his face before bringing a hand up to rub repetitively across it, trying to bring feeling back into it. He didn't know why he couldn't feel his face, but after a few moments of rubbing he started to feel the tepid water against his skin. He leaned forward resting his elbow and forearm against the shower wall above his head, supporting his body weight and looked down at himself for the first time.

He was incredibly filthy. From head to foot, he looked like his skin had gotten about ten shades darker and he could barely make out the dark tattoo on his shoulder because it was so completely covered in dark dirt and the large blood stains that covered most of his body. It wasn't just on his hands. It was all over his stomach coming all the way up to his chest and then splattered against his legs and feet and smeared in long streaks.

Claire had left the shower door open when she had backed away at some point, but she came back now with a washcloth in her hand. She placed her hand on his back in a confident connection before she said softly,

"Hand me the body wash, sweetheart."

It took him a second to process what she was asking before he reached over and grabbed the bottle sitting in the soap dish on the other side of him and handed it to her using slightly jerky motions.

"There you go. Just stand still and relax into the water, okay?" she said soothingly as she took the bottle from him.

She poured a large amount into the washcloth in her hand and then used her hand on him to pull him away from the wall he was leaning against. He followed her silent commands obediently and stood up and then turned to face her before she started scrubbing his chest with the washcloth.

He just stood there, feeling completely numb as she scrubbed him. It took her ten minutes to clean his chest, legs and arms and she had to add more body wash twice before she turned him around and started scrubbing at his back. she gasped as she ran her hand over the three long scratches across his back from the darker female that had managed to get a swipe in right as he'd closed his teeth around her neck and ripped it from her body. At this point they must have looked like they were at the scar phase of healing.

He felt her hands shake as she pressed them against the marks, finally stirring him into movement. He reached behind him to place his hand on top of hers, holding them against his back.

"They're already healing." He assured her, and his voice sounded like his own again for the first time since that morning.

He turned to look over his shoulder at her just in time to see her nod her head as she swallowed and closed her eyes with her lips pressed tightly together, pressing her palms hard against his back.

She pulled her hands out from under his as she opened her eyes again and said softly, "I need to get a new washcloth."

She dropped the one in her hand in the corner on the shower floor as she backed out of the shower that was splashing her arms and chest and turned to the built in shelfs on the other side of the small room where he'd always kept his clean linens. He looked at the washcloth on the floor to see the once white rag stained a brown-red color. He looked away from it, hoping to never have to see the color of blood again.

Claire came back and finished washing his back before asking him to turn around and hand her the shampoo. He responded as she requested, handing it to her as he turned to face her. She took his face in her hand while using the washcloth to gently scrub at his cheek. It was the first time he had really looked at her since that morning and his eyes filled with tears again as he thought about Ali and how grateful he was that Claire wasn't standing in her place as horrible as that might be.

"You're so beautiful." He whispered a little brokenly to her.

She stopped her progress to look up from the spot on his cheek she had been rubbing and met his eyes. She bunched the washcloth in her hand as she pressed her right hand to his cheek so that she was holding his face in both of her hands. She didn't say anything while she pulled his face toward her until he was out of the stream of water and dripping on to her arms around her. She stood up on her toes and pressed her slightly parted lips softly to his until they were firmly connected by the touch.

She poured more life and feeling into him with that kiss than an entire bottle of bourbon ever could. It was like the lifesaving breath of CPR, and it made him feel for the first time that everything really would be alright. She pulled back after only a second and said,

"Now hold still so that I can wash the dirt out of your hair."

Quil smiled at her bossy command and saw the look of relieve on her face as she smiled back. She quickly washed his hair and rinsed, what was a surprising amount of blood and dirt out of it before she dropped the second stained wash cloth directly next to the first and turned off the water. The sleeves and front of her dressed were wet and soaked in places as she took a step back and grabbed a clean towel off the pile on the shelf. She came back to him and he was about to reach for the towel he was sure she was going to hand him when she reached up and pressed it to his face. Rubbing it slightly roughly as she dried his face and the scruff on his beard before reaching up and running it through his hair. She quickly pulled it over his shoulders and pressed down against it before pulling it over his right arm and then bringing it back to do the same with his left. She dried his whole body with the towel before he grabbed it from her and threw the now soaking thing over the open shower door and stepped out onto the mat towards her. She reached behind her and grabbed a pair of his boxer-briefs off the counter. She must have grabbed him clothes out of his dresser when she had left before coming back with a wash cloth.

She gave him a question look as she leaned towards him. It wasn't until she started to bend forward that he realized what she meant to do and took them from her hands as he said confidently,

"I got it, Claire."

She shrugged unashamed as she grabbed a clean t-shirt while he stepped into his boxers and pulled them into place. She insisted without words on pulling the shirt on over his head and he quickly fed his arms through the sleeves and then grabbed the pair of sweats off the counter and started putting them on before she could reach for them.

She breathed a sigh of relieve as she took a step back to look at him, "That looks better. You look like you again."

He gave her a soft smile as he reached for one of her hands and pulled it towards him before wrapping his around it.

"Thank you, Claire." He said sincerely which he pulled her slightly wet body towards him.

"Of course." She answered confidently as she came willingly and fell into his arms before she said hesitantly. "I know it's a stupid question, but are you okay?"

Quil sighed as he ran a hand down her back and started to rock both of their bodies side to side as he started to move out of the bathroom while keeping them connected. Their connection was the thing he was focusing on that was keeping him sane and he didn't think he'd ever be able to let her go again.

"I'm a lot better now, babe." He replied calmly.

She just rubbed her hands up and down his back in reply as she let him hold her and drag her across the room until he flopped sideways on the bed while still holding her.

"Are you hungry? I'm gonna order a sub. Unfortunately, I've got to go back out tonight, and I haven't eaten at all today." He asked her and was relieved that he was feeling typical enough to eat something.

Claire nodded her head as she let him go and sat up against him.

"I'll order it. How long until you have to go back out?" she asked as she reached for her phone.

Quil rolled onto his back and ran a hand over his face.

"Four hours."

Claire made a sympathetic noise in her throat as she put a hand on his chest and started scrolling on her phone.

"Let's get you fed and get you some rest while you can."

Quil nodded as he closed his eyes and then forced himself to focus on only the image of her face from when he had studied her in the shower. He grabbed her hand on his chest and slipped his fingers through hers, grateful for the hold on her while he couldn't see her with his eye's closed.

"What was it Bennett told you to tell me?" he asked while bracing himself.

When she hesitated instead of responding he opened his eyes to look at her.

"Claire?" he asked in a warning tone.

He could see the stress on her face as she bit her lip and swallowed before saying quietly,

"Dean Witmore was arrested for sexual misconduct this morning. They think he's had sex with at least fifteen different students."

Quil sat up immediately to look at her and raised his hand that wasn't still holding hers against his chest to cup her cheek.

"Are you alright!? Did he hurt you?" Quil immediately asked while looking past her dress with wet spots to inspect her body for any signs of damage.

"No. I'm fine." She assured him as she used her hand to hold his to her face, "He never touched me, remember? But since my name is still the only name listed on the official investigation Bennett thinks there might be some backlash and that I need to lie low until more of the facts come out and I'm not such an obvious target."

Quil blew out a sigh of relieve as he nodded his head and was grateful he had decided to leave Bennett behind to protect Claire and Macy (but mostly just Claire….. like 95% Claire).

"Has anybody tried anything?"

She shrugged before she responded,

"I got about fifteen threatening text messages and a few calls from unknown numbers before I turned my phone off."

Quil nodded as he reached his hand on her face around her neck and pulled her into his chest. He wrapped his arm tight around her as he kept his left hand intertwined with hers by their side.

"Okay. Well we'll make sure to keep you safe and out of public eye until this is all over alright?"

He sounded a lot more comfortable than he actually felt. She nodded against him as she used her free hand to reach up under his arm and pull at his t-shirt against one of his shoulder blades as she fisted her hand around it.

Quil blew out a frustrated breath as he let himself fall back, taking her with him so that she was on top of his chest.

"Shit... When it rains it really pours..." He muttered darkly as he thought about the last time he had held her in bed, only that morning and how much had happened since then.


	21. Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

 **Claire:**

Claire sat with her back against the window at the head of the bed. She forced a few yoga breaths and continued listening to Quil talk about how Ty was now a full-fledged Quiluete werewolf. _Ty_! She had known him since he was _born_ and now he was going to end up looking older than she did in just a few short months. The thought was overwhelming and felt significant.

Quil hadn't told her much about the fight that had taken place or about the girls that had been killed in the process. She knew that for him it was a combination of not wanting to relive it and not wanting her to have to experience the horror he had to witness. She was familiar with the feeling and it was the reason she hadn't gone into detail about the cruel text messages and even alarming phone calls she had received while he was gone.

After the first few text messages, all from blocked numbers that all read similar things;

 **You are a bitch. Go to Hades you whore!**

 **You're such a slut.**

 **Way to sex the dean and then get HIM in trouble for it.**

 **Yeah run and hide bitch because when I find you I'm gonna make you pay for what you did.**

Or her personal favorite;

 **Are the services you gave to the dean all for sale because id pay for some of that ass**

Claire had simply given up and given her phone to Bennett who proofread every message before deleting it. Eventually, he got so agitated doing it that she had simply turned the phone off before popping a disk from _The Big Bang Theory_ in that she had left there at Quil's place.

"How is Ty Lahote a freaking wolf? That's just too much…" she said as she threw her hand in the air in complete shock.

Quil huffed out a laugh as he blew out a breath and laid across the bed with his head in her lap.

He closed his eyes and grabbed at her hand she had run through his hair. It took her a second to realize he was silently crying. She knew in that moment that he had to be seriously overwhelmed with everything if he was tearing up over it.

"Shit, baby." He said softly as he wiped at the moisture in his eyes. "This day. How has it been _sooo_ shitty?"

"Shhhh. Don't talk like that." She said softly as she brought her free hand up to keep running through his hair.

He nodded his head in agreement before he froze for a second and then looked up at her.

"What did you say?" he asked surprised, "Did you just tell me not to speak like that?"

Claire just shrugged guiltily in response.

"I thought you were going to say something to make me feel better and instead you tell me not to _swear_!?" Quil laughed in disbelief.

Claire immediately blushed in response. She felt stupid when he phrased it like that. "I _do_ want to make you feel better… I just don't really like cursing." She said apologetically.

Quil looked at her with his head tilted up towards her for a second and she couldn't read his expression before he grabbed at her ankle and said,

"Come here, Claire."

He started pulling on her leg, pulling her down from her sitting position so that she was lying next to him. She quickly had to grab the skirt of her dress and hold it against her as he hazardously pulled her down the bed.

As soon as she was next to him with her face lined up with his he wrapped his arms tightly around her and pulled her in so that her stomach was pressed to his chest while she was lying far enough back to still be able to see his face clearly.

"Claire." He said sternly, "You are perfect. You being you _did_ make me feel better."

She just raised her eyebrows as she gave him a skeptical look, positive he was just trying to make her feel better.

"No really. You just made me laugh for the first time today, and after the shitty-" he quickly cleared his throat guiltily, "After the _day_ that I've had, that in itself is a miracle."

Claire couldn't help but smile after that explanation, she simply put her hands on his chest and felt his heartbeat under her palm as she tried to think of a worthy response. Quil pulled his hand away from around her to grab her chin and tilted it up to look at him. The second she looked up she immediately felt locked into his eyes.

"I love you." He said sincerely.

His voice trembled while he said it and Claire knew that the way he was saying it was somehow a little different then he'd ever said it before. He loved who she had been for him today and who they were together and was trying desperately to communicate it to her.

Claire felt her eyes tear up in response and had to swallow to clear the emotion stuck in her throat before she could reply.

"I love you." She said back simply. She wished she had his ability to communicate more with simple phrases, but she knew that he knew she meant it and that would have to be enough.

"You're so beautiful." Quil whispered to her for the second time that day.

Claire bit her lip as she leaned into him. She was looking directly at his lips she was inches away from when he groaned and pulled away from her before she could reach them.

She looked up at him in surprise when he spoke directly to the ceiling.

"Please don't try to kiss me."

She was glad he was looking up at the ceiling because she couldn't help the look of hurt that slapped across her face.

"Why?" she asked in a concerned voice.

Quil huffed out a sigh towards the ceiling, "Because….." he started hesitantly before letting his sentence hang.

"Because?" she asked still confused. Quil had never not wanted her to kiss him before, not since the very first time she had. "Is there something wrong….. I mean between us?"

"Wha- NO!" he answered quickly as his head flipped back to look at her. "No, Claire, not at all." He said insistently as he grabbed her hand beside him and pulled it to his lips.

Claire swallowed as she watched him kiss her palm.

"Okay good. Well if you need some space for a while, I'll understand. You can tell me that, it's okay." She assured him as she mentally started preparing herself to do the literal last thing in the world she ever wanted to do.

"No, Claire, I definitely don't need space. At least not from you." He said with a small dark chuckle, "The only reason I didn't want you to kiss me is because after today all my self-control is shot. If I start to kiss you now I won't stop…. And I'm don't want to put you in that position."

Claire looked at him in surprise as she processed what he was trying to say. Part of her really wanted him to start kissing her and just see what would happen but mostly she just felt grateful he didn't need space from her because right now what she needed most was to be close to him for as long as she could be.

"Put me in what position?" she asked as she ran her hand through his hair creating a contact point between them again after he had pulled away.

"The position of having to shove me off you."

Claire raised her eyebrows and tossed her head back and forth like she was pretending to consider it.

"Ahh, that position. That sounds awful." She teased as she played with his hair.

Quil didn't respond except to close his eyes and let a dark chuckle escape.

He groaned loudly and kept his eyes closed before he said, "What are we going to do about you, Claire?"

"What do you mean?" she asked confused.

"I mean, the texts and phone calls. We need to figure out where you're going to go until this all blows over and it comes out what a scum-bag he really is."

"Go?" she asked feeling even more confused just as her phone started ringing, she looked down to see her dad's caller ID.

"Hold that thought." She muttered as she slid her finger across the screen, "Dad?"

"Hey how you holding up, baby girl?" his voice asked sounding concerned. He hadn't called her _baby girl_ since she was probably six.

"I'm fine, Dad. It's really no big deal. It's just a few angry people venting their misplace frustration with some poorly crafted text messages. I'm positive Bennett was just over reacting because he'd rather be safe." Claire replied easily, grateful that Quil had a chance to overhear the conversation.

"Yeah, about that… did Quil show up yet or are you still hiding out with Bennett?" he replied.

"I'm with Quil now, Bennett had to go run a patrol." She replied confused that he would ask.

"Good, good." He answered vaguely, "Hey, let me talk to him, sweetheart."

"…. To Quil?" she asked confused by this uncharacteristic conversation.

"Yes, I need to speak with him."

Quil had opened his eyes to look at her since he was obviously overhearing both sides of the conversation.

"I don't know, Dad. He's had a really rough day… Can't I just-" Claire began but then cut off since Quil was already gesturing for her to hand him the phone. She reluctantly gave it to him and then sat back to listen as Quil spoke,

"Robert?... Yeah… No, I was on a run. We had some bloodsuckers cross our paths. It didn't end well and one got away….." he listened for a second to whatever her dad was saying on the other end and then suddenly sat directly up from where he had still been lying across the bed. "When?... It said?... Okay, no I agree. Was Jamie okay?"

Claire immediately leaned forward with more concerned interest. What had happened to Jamie?

"Yeah… No I can't….. I have to go back out there in about two hours….. No, not something like this….. Yeah, I know it's really shitty timing but it's just not something I can leave to Leah to handle…. No, of course not, I'd never leave her alone… I'll talk to her and we'll figure out a plan for this weekend and then we'll revaluate and figure out what she should do next week….. Okay…. Okay…... Call me if anything else happens…. Okay, bye, Robert."

He hung up the phone and tossed it to the side before blowing out another breath and leaning to the side as he wrapped his arms around Claire and pulled her into his chest.

Claire's voice shook as she asked, "What happened?"

Quil hesitated for a second until she started poking him hard in the side of his stomach and he explained, "Someone threw a brick through the front window of your house."

Claire pulled back sharply to look at him. "What!? Why? Why would someone do something like that!?"

"There was a note taped to it." He confessed. "It said something along the lines of you having to pay for what you did to Counselman Witmore."

Claire's hands came up to cover her mouth and tears filled her eyes as something she had overheard him saying to her dad connected.

"And Jamie was in the front room….." she said more like a statement while asking for his confirmation.

"Yeah, he was playing Mario-Kart." Quil admitted and Claire's eyes immediately started pouring out tears, "Fortunately, the chords on the Nintendo 64 aren't very long and he was sitting right in front of the tv. Glass shattered pretty much everywhere but your dad said there's not a scratch on him."

Claire nodded her head and breathed out a sigh of relief as she felt her hands shake while pressed against her lips and the tears continued to pour at just the thought of something hurting Jamie because of her.

"He's okay, Claire." Quil assured her as he continued to rub his hands up and down her arms. "He can't read yet, remember? So, he doesn't even know what the note says."

She sniffled and sucked down a sob before it could escape. "What else did he say?"

Quil looked at her a little hesitantly before saying, "The police are already there, they asked about your whereabouts, but your dad just told them you were laying low and staying out of the public eye…. But everyone agrees that for the time being you shouldn't go home."

"What? You think people are waiting for me to come home to try and attack me!?" Claire asked in shocked disbelief.

Quil shrugged, "He's a really well liked public figure and I guess there are some pretty angry people right now….. Look, it's just a precaution, no one wants to take a chance with your safety."

"But what about the rest of my family? Aren't they in danger staying at the house?" she asked in concern.

He shook his head confidently, "Naw, your dad already said the cops are going to do a drive by every twenty minutes and anyone watching the place will quickly realize you aren't there. I'm adding your house to the route for our patrols too, so they'll have plenty of protection. The pack will be able to sniff out any lurkers in a heartbeat."

Claire nodded as she sniffled and wiped at her nose.

"So, I'm spending the night then…. And my dad was okay with that?" she asked surprised.

He made a disappointed face and pursed his lips before saying, "That was actually his idea but unfortunately you can't stay here tonight… I've got to go back out there and lead the pack… I can't just leave them hanging while that last bloodsucker's still out there."

"…. Why can't I stay here with Butch?" she asked confused.

Quil gave her an annoyed looked before saying skeptically, "You really think I'm going to leave you here alone with Butch?"

"Uh yeah…. No one knows I'm here, right? That seems pretty safe to me."

He rolled his eyes in annoyance before dismissively saying, "No, Claire, not happening."

"Quil, where am I supposed to go? The only other place I'd go is Bennett's and he's out there tonight too."

"I'm gonna send you down to La Push for the weekend." He answered like he'd already thought it through.

"To La Push?" she asked in disbelief.

"Claire." Quil immediately began desperately like he just didn't have energy to argue with her. "Baby, I just need you to do this for me, okay? Please? I _HAVE_ to go back out there and do my job and I can't do that- I can't be focused if I don't know with a hundred percent certainty that you are absolutely safe."

Claire put her face in her hands and groaned in response to his begging before speaking into her palms, "So, what? I'm supposed to spend the weekend hiding out with your mom?"

"My mom? Hell no, you two will kill each other within the first twenty minutes and then she'll spend the rest of the time telling you everything that's wrong with me and convincing you how much you really don't want to be with me."

Claire didn't even laugh before she looked up at him and said, "Then where? Where am I supposed to stay?"

She was seriously resisting the urge to just insist on staying where she was with Butch for protection and company but could feel how desperately he really needed her to be in La Push.

"Stay with Sam and Emily." He suggested.

"Sam and Emily!? I can't stay with Sam and Emily. They have three kids in that cottage, there is no way I can ask them to squeeze me in there too."

"Jared and Kim?" He suggested amicably.

"Quil! They have FIVE kids! I can't stay there!" Claire insisted.

"Ooh yeah, they do huh?….. Oh perfect! Paul and Rachel! You can stay with them! They have a guest room AND it's perfect timing with Ty phasing, you can help keep an eye on him for me and vice versa!"

"Vice Versa? You want Ty to keep an eye on me?" she asked doubtfully while already feeling offended that he would ask a thirteen-year-old watch her every move.

"Then you'll have some current-wolf protection. It'll make me feel better." He said honestly.

Claire let out a sigh as she considered it. The truth was she'd much prefer to stay with Embry or Seth over Paul but seeing as Embry and Arabella lived in Seattle they weren't really an option and since Seth and Tara also lived there on the Makah reservation she knew Quil wouldn't seriously consider it since it was too close to the action.

"Alright." She finally agreed hesitatingly, "But _you_ have to call and ask. There is no way I'm calling him up and saying, 'Hey, Uncle Paul, how about a slumber party at your place this weekend?'!"

Quil gave a chuckle as he pulled out his phone, "I'm on it. But, babe, do me a favor and don't call him 'Uncle Paul' I'm sure 'Paul' plain and simple is fine."

"Why?" she asked confused, "I've always called him Uncle Paul…. Just _Paul_ seems kind of a disrespectful and Mr. Lahote is a little much for someone I've basically known my entire life."

Quil groaned before saying, "Claire, stop. You're killing me here!"

She chuckled at his dramatics, happy to see he was acting more like his normal self. "What?"

"I've known Paul for over twenty years, he's one of my ….. friends I guess and you're my girlfriend so I need you to be on friend terms with him and not making me feel hella old by acting like he's your great uncle." He explained quickly with his thumb hovering over Paul's number waiting to call him.

Claire almost snorted she started laughing so hard and Quil quickly dropped his phone to put his hands on her waist and tickle her even though she was already laughing.

"But you _are_ hella old! I'm only three and a half years older than Tyler and you want me to be buddy-buddy with Paul? The guy is legitimately old enough to be my dad!" Claire laughed and Quil instantly groaned again.

"Don't say that! He's only three years older than I am!" Quil complained while Claire laughed harder than ever both at what he had said and because he was tickling her.

Claire shrugged as she looked at him in response.

"What do you want me to say…..?" she asked before continuing in a more assuring tone, " _YOU_ probably aren't old enough to be my dad…."

" _AND_ on that note!" He quickly pulled his hands off of her and stood up so that there was space between them, "I'll probably never be able to look at or touch my underage girlfriend ever again but that's cool, right? We're soulmates….. We're soulmates…." The way he said it made it clear he was speaking directly to himself.

Claire instantly jumped up and closed the distance between them. She grabbed his face in her hands and pulled at him when he resisted until he looked at her.

"Quil." She said lovingly. "It doesn't even matter, remember?"

He immediately gave her a skeptical look that said exactly how much he didn't believe her.

"No, really! I don't care if you're really seventeen like when you phased or twenty-four like you look or thirty-one. All I care about is that you're _my_ Quil and that I get to be with you for the rest of my life. Other than that, nothing matters…. No one needs to know what the ages on our ID's say…."

Quil blew out a breath and looked towards the ceiling before looking back at her, "Okay, Claire, but I swear if you ever say I'm old enough to be your father again, I'm going to have a brain hemorrhage!"

Claire laughed at the serious look on his face before standing on her toes to bring his large six-foot five-inch frame into her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry!"

"Yeah, well it's not your fault you were born in the wrong decade." He replied sarcastically while wrapping his arms around her waist and Claire giggled in response quickly kissing his cheek before she pulled back.

"Call Paul, I'll run home and pack my stuff."

She went to move around him, but he reached out and grabbed her arms before she could move.

"You can't, Claire. You can't go home right now, I'm taking you straight to La Push and then camping out there until it's safe for you to come back here."

Claire was already positive Quil's definition of _safe_ was going to differ very greatly from hers.

"What? But what about all my stuff? You really think it's not safe for me to just run by my house?" she asked feeling flustered and a little scared despite knowing the likelihood of Quil's over exaggeration.

"Really. If someone is watching the house than they're just waiting for you to go through the door. You can pack up anything you want here. It's just for the weekend… probably…"

Claire groaned as her eyes filled with tears she refused to shed. She hated that she let this situation make her feel scared, but it was a frightening thought to be kept away from your own home because people potentially wanted to hurt you. She wanted to be brave and tough and face it head on to show she wouldn't let it get to her. The only reason she was even going along with any of this was because she knew how important it was to Quil. He was under so much stress and emotional exhaustion that if he had to worry anymore about her than he already was he would probably snap.

She quickly grabbed the duffel bag from Quil that he had easily reached under the bed to grab. She went to his dresser first and pulled out a few t-shirts and two pairs of boxer-briefs then shoved them all in the bag not bothering to lay anything out or make sure it stayed folded. She quickly went in the bathroom and grabbed her toothbrush she kept there and then opened the medicine cabinet to see what of hers she could find there. The only thing that would be remotely helpful was an old shriveled up bar of face soap.

"This is it. All I got." Claire said as she held up the bar of soap and toothbrush.

"Just a sec, hon." Quil said easily without looking at her. He had his phone to his ear and she could hear it ringing on the other end before he stepped out on the stairwell, so he wouldn't bother her with his call.

He was only gone a few moments before coming back in while tucking his phone back in his pocket.

"Done. You officially have a place to stay for at least the weekend and then indefinitely after that as needed."

"For the weekend." Claire clarified firmly.

"Let's just start with that and see where it goes… Now what's the problem?" he asked as he gestured to the duffle bag she had left on the bed.

"This is all I can find." She replied as she swept her hand over the measly contents of the bag that consisted of a few t-shirts, a couple pairs of his boxer-briefs and her toothbrush and face soap. "I don't even have a single pair of pants…. Forget about makeup, shampoo, my own underwear or any of the other million things I use on a daily basis…. I don't even have my phone charger."

Quil pulled her close and kissed her temple at her hairline. "We got this, Claire." He replied unconcerned.

He let go of her as he moved to his dresser and pulled out a few more shirts and pairs of boxers along with a pair of dark jeans.

"What's that for?" she asked confused.

"Until you come back I'm staying there too …. so is Butch actually." He replied as he went into the bathroom and came back out with his toothbrush, toothpaste, and shampoo and body wash.

"Wait. Does Paul know that I come with such an entourage?" Claire asked concerned.

"Just solved your shampoo problem." he said easily as he dumped all his toiletries into the duffle.

 _Great, so now I can smell like a man while going braless and wearing nothing but Quil's t-shirt and boxers by day three!_ She felt depressed just thinking about it.

"And yes, Paul knows about your entourage. They have two bit pulls, remember? So, he's fine with Butch coming and he said I could stay in the guest room with you as long as I swore to no funny-business under his roof. That was literally the phrase he used." Quil continued.

"Yeah, but how could you possibly resist me while I'm wearing this with no makeup or hair products or deodorant," Claire replied sarcastically as she held up one of the t-shirts and boxer-briefs he had just put in the bag. Quil snapped his fingers and muttered "Deodorant!" as he went back into the bathroom to grab his.

"You can just use mine too." He replied easily.

"Great. Then I'm definitely gonna end up smelling like a man." She remarked.

"No." Quil said while shaking his head, "You're going to smell like _your_ man… not just _A_ man."

"I guess that's true." Claire allowed as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to his chest so that she had to look up to see him.

"And honestly the picture your painting for me is sounding _really_ sexy…. Do you think we could repeat this little weekend away sometime but with just a whole lot less Paul around?"

"Hmm… me au natural with zero wardrobe options that didn't come from you… that does it for you huh?" she responded while using her hand to refer to her face and hair.

Quil smiled before he nodded and then slowly bent towards the side of her head until his mouth was less than an inch from her ear and she could feel his slightly accelerated breathing hot against her neck.

"You, Claire. That's what does it for me, plain and simple. I thought we already established that?" he whispered raspily in her ear.

Claire felt the chills run down her spine in response before he even closed the distance to her and then grazed her earlobe with his teeth. She gave a little shiver before letting out a slightly throaty chuckle and saying,

"Did you just call me 'plain and simple'?"

She felt Quil freeze around her for a second before he pulled back to look at her, "What!? That's not what I said at all!" he responded in disbelieve.

Claire laughed again at his reaction before saying, "Well that's what I heard… Come on, Casa Nova, you ready to go?"

Quil looked at her in completely shocked disbelieve before reaching around to his nightstand and yanking his phone charger out of the wall and dropping it on top of the duffel bag before zipping the whole thing up and grabbing it in one hand.

"Come on, Butch." He commanded as he walked to the door and held it open for the dog and Claire to walk through. He shook his head as she walked past him before muttering.

"Those were some of my best moves! Did that really not work for you!?"

Claire laughed as she reached down to grab her backpack by the door and follow Butch out.

"Oh, Baby, they were working, alright. A little too well if you ask me…" she replied and looked behind her in time to see a self-satisfying smirk on Quil's face.

"Oh, really?" he said in a very interested tone of voice as he followed Claire out the garage and into his car with Butch waiting to get in the back seat.

* * *

The weekend past surprisingly quickly for Claire, spent entirely in La Push with the Lahotes. She didn't get to see any of her family, but Bennett stopped by first thing on Saturday morning and brought Claire her laptop so that she could do homework or simply entertain herself watching movies online. She spent the vast majority of her time at the Lahote's working on catching up on all the schoolwork she had missed or playing video games with Ty while Mia (his eight-year-old sister) insisted on braiding and then rebraiding Claire's hair.

Even though she was sharing a room with Quil, he was gone every one of the three nights she stayed. He was running point on the widened patrol searching for even the faintest whiff of the murdering vampire that had escaped them days before, all while taking extra shifts so that he could train Tyler as well. Any time Quil was at the Lahote's house he was hidden away in the guest room with drapes pulled closed and catching as many measly hours of sleep he could manage between shifts.

Claire already felt bad for Bennett after speaking with him on Saturday morning. While he had initially been excited about Tyler joining the pack, which meant he was now no longer the lowest man on the wolf totem pole, Quil had informed him that he would be participating in all of Ty's training sessions since he himself had only been a wolf for a couple of months and wasn't finished training. So, now instead of having a slightly elevated position in the pack he was following the same training regimen as a thirteen-year-old wolf that was already bigger than he was.

The only thing that didn't go smoothly over the weekend was the heated (yet almost completely silent) argument Claire had with Quil in the guest bedroom on Sunday night when she was preparing to go back to school on Monday. Since she had stopped receiving threatening calls and text messages she deemed it more than safe enough to go back especially with Bennett there beside her. Quil wasn't happy about the prospect but didn't have much leg to stand on, so quickly gave in on the basis that she text him regular updates and stay close to Bennett's side.

Monday went surprisingly smoothly; Claire's notoriety had only increased but now it had a tone of either respect or slight fear depending on who was gawking at her as she walked past. She didn't get anyone asking her to prom though and that was a relieve in itself. In fact, she went the whole day without a single person calling her a slut and the most notable thing was that Bennett fell asleep in first period, lunch, and sixth period and Claire had to wake him up each time.

Claire was in her room alone working on homework Monday evening when her phone gave a notification ping and she looked down to see the article from a local media outlet listing the names of at least five girls who were charging the dean with sexual misconduct and harassment. #metoo was already trending locally in their small town all within regards to Craig Witmore. Claire knew three of the five girls personally and one of those three had been on the varsity cheer squad the year before when Claire had been on the freshman squad.

She didn't know how to feel about the article but immediately began shaking. She couldn't believe this had been happening to all of these girls in their small town, but it just drove home to her how close she had come to becoming the dean's next victim.

That night Quil snuck in her window to find her crying in bed. When he asked her what was wrong, she did the best she could to explain about the dean and how he really had been coming onto her. She could no longer hold on to the naïve (yet slightly hopeful) idea that somehow, someway, she had just been mistaken, that she really had never been in any danger. It was real. It had happened. And it could have been so much worse, just like it had been for all those other poor girls. He held onto her as he rubbed her back and kissed her hair.

"Claire, I'd never let anyone hurt you." He whispered, and her tears seemed to miraculously dry in an instant. She believed him, of course she did and she could never feel too scared while Quil was holding her, somehow always knowing the exact right thing to say to make her feel better. He fell asleep seconds later.

By the end of the week most of the facts about the case against the dean came forward. Every year for the past ten to fifteen years (the timeline was still unclear) he had targeted one female student, usually a senior about to graduate, and would find bogus reasons to summon her to the dean's office where he would blackmail her with RPC's, detentions, suspensions, and even refusing to let her graduate until she agreed to do sexual favors for him. This school year, he had chosen a senior girl who like Claire had been resistant to him, she had threatened to report him if he didn't leave her alone the day before Claire had been called into his office for her outfit when her bra was seen through her shirt. Apparently, he decided to switch mid-year and change targets to Claire who had unwittingly blown the whistle on the whole thing. Claire walked past the other girl almost every day in the hall at school. It was pretty awkward, but they would always make eye contact and give each other a small smile since they were both potential victims of the same disturbing man.

Claire's real fear was that there was already talk about Craig Witmore's legal defense. Apparently, some members of the city council had managed to bank roll an incredible legal team from Seattle that was already preparing a case for his trial which wouldn't begin for another year. The crux of his defense was that every single girl he had had sex with was over the age of consent. He would never work in a school system again, (or public office for that matter) but he would very possibly be able to avoid any jail time at all and that just didn't sit right with Claire.

Somehow, after the lid blew open on the whole thing, Claire was suddenly back to being one of the most popular people at school….. She hated it worse than being treated like the school pariah. Now she knew that not a single person that was suddenly so eager to be her friend cared about her as a person at all. She was constantly plagued with people asking her for gory details of what happened between her and the dean or else inviting her to parties so that she could be the main attraction in their freak show. The-girl-who-was-almost-molested-by-the-dean-but-walked-out-of-school-instead seemed to have become her entire identity overnight. She kept Bennett closer to her than ever before much to Macy's dismay. He was the only person she trusted, and he was the only thing standing between her and the posers trying to milk Claire for her fifteen minutes of fame and hoping it would rub off on them.

By the weekend, every single member of the pack started to look like an extra on the set of _The Walking Dead._ Deep circles of exhaustion could be seen on all their face's and even Collin seemed to be too exhausted to make any sort of sarcastic comment when asked how he was doing. They were running patrols 24/7 and Quil was running doubles, refusing to miss his shifts in the rotation but still running extra shifts to train Tyler along with Bennett (who was also running doubles since Quil had put him in the rotation for patrols as well).

Twice during the week Quil simply hadn't shown up for family dinner with Claire's family when he was supposed to. She finally showed up at his apartment to check on him, both times to find him face down in his pillow completely sound asleep. She never had the heart to wake him up, but she was starting to miss him desperately. She was lucky if she got to see him for more than ten or twenty minutes a day. He kept insisting that she text him regular updates during her school day but since he was more often than not on patrol while she was in school, he wouldn't even see them until after he phased back.

Claire was starting to worry that the real reason he was pushing the pack (and himself) so hard was out of guilt for the girl's he couldn't save. She knew more likely than not, the vampire that had escaped was long gone and would never make the mistake of coming back again but Quil couldn't seem to let it go, seeming to feel the need for constant vigilance so they could catch the bloodsucker if he ever came back or at least protect as many innocent people from sharing the same fate of those poor girls.

She was worried about him. She didn't get the chance to spend the night with him often since he was so tired and busy that he almost never snuck in anymore, but the nights he did stay it was obvious he was having nightmares about that day. He would mumble the name Ali, over and over again while his muscles flexed and spasmed in his sleep.

It all came to a head one night when he gave Claire a bruise after his arm shot out in his sleep and smacked forcefully against her lower back with his supernatural strength. She woke up with a painful gasp at the same time he sat straight up. He seemed disoriented and confused at first until he looked down to see Claire with tears in her eyes as she tried to swallow down the whimper of pain from what had to be a deep tissue bruise.

"What happened?" he asked immediately.

"You hit me." She whispered and was horrified when the tears started spilling out.

"What?" he asked sounding distraught and almost panicked.

Claire shook her head slightly with her eyes screwed shut trying desperately to control the pain without letting him see how much he had hurt her.

"Oh shit, Claire! I hit you!" he said in a completely horrified voice.

"It's okay." She breathed out on a deep sigh, finally opening her eyes to look at him. She was sure the worst of the pain was over.

"Oh, baby girl!" Quil said sounding devastated as he scooped his arm under her and pulled her into his chest. "I can't believe I did that." he said in disbelieve.

She shrugged as she wiped her cheeks and forced the rest of her tears back down.

"Where?" he asked softly while looking her over carefully in his lap.

Claire just sighed and shook her head, knowing it didn't matter.

"Where did I hit you, Claire? Let me look." He said sternly, and she knew he wasn't going to let it go.

She blew out a large breath before she lifted the back of her oversized tank and then the cami underneath that she had been sleeping in.

"Claire, I'm so sorry! I can't believe I did that! I won't sleep in here with you anymore, okay?" he apologized as he looked at what was apparently the bruise already forming on her skin that he could see even in the dark.

"What!? No! That's the opposite of what I want! Don't do that!" she said immediately angry with herself for showing him the bruise.

"Well it's not what I want either but what else can I do!? I can't take the chance and hurt you again!" he said desperately.

Claire reached up and grabbed both sides of his face in her hands,

"Quil, you have got to let this go."

"Let what go?" he asked confused as he started to softly rub circles on the bruise on her back until Claire winced and he pulled away.

"Ali."

"What?" he asked sounding even more desperate than he had a second ago.

"You have to let her go, Quil. Her death wasn't your fault."

Claire immediately sensed his desperate attempt to keep from shutting her out while clearly not wanting to talk about it as he inspected her bruise. She could almost feel his instinct to makeup an excuse for accidentally hitting her and then take off to spend the night at his place. He took a breath before looking back at her.

"What am I supposed to do about it, Claire? It was my responsibility to keep what happened to her _from happening_ and I failed… How am I ever supposed to let that go?" he asked her so desperately and sincerely and Claire felt her heart physically hurt in response to his pain.

She was already crying more tears in response.

"Can we just start by you telling me what happened?" she asked softly knowing he would be reluctant to share this with her. "You haven't talked about it at all, Quil, and it's been two weeks. It's just going to get worse if you keep it all bottled up inside."

He wouldn't look at her even with her hands on his face and she was bracing herself for the rejection of him inevitably pushing her away and shutting down again but instead he just took a sharp breath and then suddenly began,

"It was early that morning. I phased after Paul called me and told me Ty had phased. I had just picked him up when I caught their trail. It hit me really hard and fast… It was definitely strong and fresh, so I don't know why I didn't pick up the scent of those girls…. of Ali…. I should have… Every time I look back I always see that as my first mistake…."

He continued on to tell her the entire story and Claire cried the entire time. Both for the girls who had died and for Quil and his pain. By the time he finished he was crying as well.

"Claire, I'm sorry I've been so out of it and overbearing lately, making you text me all those updates all the time, but I'm just terrified I'm going to be too late again next time and that somehow, someway, instead of it being Ali whose neck gets snapped in front of me… it's you."

"That's never going to happen, alright? I won't ever let it, okay?" she answered immediately.

"You promise?" he asked a little desperately and in a way that reminded Claire of Jamie.

"I promise, Quil. I'm not going anywhere. I'm with you now and always, okay?"

Quil nodded his head as he sniffed in a masculine sort of way as though he'd never been crying and then gave her a very relieved smile.

* * *

 **Quil:**

That night he finally told Claire everything seemed to be the turning point for Quil. After finally being able to process what had happened the day Allison Proseke died and realizing that it wasn't a precursor for Claire's fate, he was finally able to move forward. He cut back the pack's patrols so that the circular route was smaller, and each wolf didn't have to run more than three times a week. He also cut Bennett out of Ty's training regimen (much to Bennett's relief) and started taking Ty on patrols with him so he could kill two birds with one stone.

By the time the end of May rolled around a new pattern of life seemed to have fallen into place. The pack was running smoothly, and Ty was fitting in like he was born to be a wolf (probably because he had been), Claire and Bennett seemed to have managed to catch back up on all of their school work they'd both managed to fall behind on. Macy seemed to get more bitter the longer her breakup with Bennett lasted, which did nothing to convince Bennett to go back to her even though he still called her twice a week, emailed her every day and saw her at school, it was the least amount of contact he could maintain with her and not feel like he was going completely senile.

Quil had adjusted easily to his schedule of patrol's and trainings since it was now significantly less that the amount he was doing in the weeks following the stupid leech fight, even if it was more than he'd had to do in years. He had taken on another renovation project since the first one had proven to be so lucrative. It would take probably three to six months for him to complete this time around but would pay twice what he had made off the first one, plus he was still running his regular business of oil changes and replacing batteries and spark plugs.

He was currently blasting AC/DC in the garage and was elbow deep in replacing the transmission of an old Trans Am, rolling his eyes at the guy who was determined to keep it running instead of moving into this century when his phone started to ring. His hands were more than a little busy, but he glanced over at it on his workbench to see a number he didn't recognize. He looked quickly between his greasy hands wrapped around machine and the phone ten feet away.

He ignored it as he went back to trying to support a ridiculous amount of weight with just his forearm while working one handed when the same number started calling for a second time. Blowing out a breath, he expertly extracted his hands while praying it wasn't the IRS calling. He could not handle dealing with an audit right now. He turned down the music and wiped his hands on a rag which did little to improve their blackened state before swiping to answer the call.

"This is Quil." He answered.

He still felt distinctly like his grandfather every time he answered the phone like that, but it sounded professional and made him smile so he always did.

"Quil? Can you come get me?" Claire's voice said just above a whisper like she didn't want someone to overhear her conversation.

Quil immediately looked at the clock on the wall to see that it was only 10:35 on a Wednesday morning. Forcing himself not to panic before she had a chance to explain he answered quickly,

"Yeah, of course. Where are you?"

"I'm at school. Everything is …. alright." she said hesitantly like maybe everything wasn't alright. "But I need you to come get me." She was still speaking quietly as if there was someone next to her who could hear her conversation.

"Okay." Quil answered confused. "Are you okay? Is something wrong with your car?"

He knew for sure that she had driven herself to school that morning since he had spent the night in her room with her the night before. He couldn't think of a reason why she'd need him to pick her up when she was supposed to be in class.

She huffed out a small sigh from across the line and then said, "No. Nothing's wrong with me or my car… I got suspended." She admitted and Quil felt his eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "I'll explain everything when you get here but I need someone over twenty-one to come sign me out and my parents listed you as my temporary guardian so you could be approved to do it."

Quil was momentarily speechless as he let everything she said sink in. For some reason he couldn't move past how creepy temporary guardianship over his girlfriend made him feel.

"Quil?" she asked quietly since he hadn't responded to anything she had said.

"You got suspended?" he asked still confused.

"Yes, and they won't let me just leave in my own car. They keep saying that an _adult_ needs to take responsibility for me." She said sounding annoyed and Quil could practically hear her eyes rolling.

"Alright." He agreed quickly, "I'll be right there."

"Thank you!" she said sounding relieved. "I'm in the front office but please hurry, the receptionist is giving me serious side eye!"

"Okay, I'm coming right now." He assured her as he rubbed his hands a little more thoroughly with the rag he'd tossed on his workbench and grabbed his keys he was glad he'd left on the bench.

She said goodbye and hung up as he closed the garage door and then headed out the side door. He was just locking it when the guy with a mullet pulled up in a Queen Victoria with the window rolled down.

"Dude, It's still not ready yet." Quil said annoyed since he'd been by less than an hour earlier to check on his Trans Am.

"Then where are you going!?" he asked concerned that Quil would apparently abandon his baby.

"Something came up. I need to go pick up my girlfriend. Look I'll call you tonight when it's finished." He answered as he opened the door to the Camaro and slid in.

He just heard the guys reply of 'She better be perfect!' as he started his car. He had been about to yell back that she is when he realized he was talking about the almost forty-year-old Trans Am and not Claire.

Quil pulled up to the front of the school less than three minutes later and found a spot in the facility parking lot. He didn't think he had ever seen this part of the school before since he always picked Claire up from the student lot in the back and had never had a reason to come through the front. He walked into the front office to find a nervous and twitchy Claire sitting against the wall across from him with her bag at her feet.

"Hey, Nino. You alright?" he asked when she didn't look up when he walked in.

A look of relief washed over her face as she stood up and waited for him to walk the short distance to her. She didn't reply so he did a quick visual inspection of her from head to foot but didn't find any noticeable damage. He put his hands on her waist and felt her ribs gently to make sure he wasn't missing any sort of internal injury as he started looking at the side of her head for any bumps or bruises under her hair. His whole inspection took less than twenty seconds and he was relieved with the lack of damage he found.

"I'm fine, Quil." She whispered to him reassuringly and he felt his eyebrows pull together in questioning confusion just as a shrill, disbelieving voice from behind the desk less than five feet away said,

"Quil Ateara!?"

He looked up at the sound of his name and felt his heart drop to somewhere in the bottom of his stomach. _Oh shit._ was his immediate thought at the recognition of the face behind the desk, _why oh why, did it have to be her!?"_

"Bianca Sanchez?" he replied in a politely surprised tone and not the one of complete horror he would have preferred.

He quickly realized his hands were still on Claire's ribcage and immediately pulled them off her and stuck them in the pockets of his work pants as he took a very small step to the side so that he could face the desk while subtly putting space between himself and Claire.

"Wow, look at you! You look _GOOD_!" Gina said in astonishment. "Wow. I mean how long has it been since I've seen you!?"

Quil cleared his throat uncomfortably while looking anywhere but back at Claire for her reaction as he replied, "Thanks, you look good too. I don't know, since high school I guess."

He could feel Claire's burning curiosity next to him as he was wishing literally anyone else in the world had been the one behind the desk.

"Yeah, I forgot how sexy that tattoo of yours is! You haven't changed at all in the last fifteen years have you!?"

"Well the tattoo definitely hasn't changed." He replied before quickly trying to change the subject while still not looking at Claire beside him who he could feel staring straight at the side of his face. "So, um do I need to sign something or how do I get her released from here?"

"Oh right! You're here for Claire?" she asked quickly and with some obvious confusion.

"Yup." He replied simply as Claire stepped up next to him in front of the desk.

He chanced a look down at her as Bianca started sorting through paperwork on the desk. Claire turned to look back at him and gave him a look of skeptical disbelief that told him there was no way he would be able to get away without a Bianca Sanchez explanation.

Bianca passed a couple papers across the desk toward him along with a pen.

"I'll need to make a copy of your ID and you'll need to sign these."

Quil quickly dug his driver's license out of his wallet and passed it over as he looked down at the papers in front of him.

"So, how have you been!? I ran into your mom a few weeks ago, she said you've been good."

It wasn't until Claire pushed an elbow into his ribs that Quil registered Bianca's question since he had been completely focused on scanning through the papers in front of him.

"What? Oh yeah, I've been good..." He replied to Bianca and then immediately turned to Claire before giving Bianca a chance to respond, "This says you got into a physical altercation…."

Claire bit her lip as she looked away from him and started blushing.

"She mentioned you're still single….. You know my divorce just finalized last week, it seems like some pretty fortuitous timing you coming in here today."

Quil hadn't been listening but still appraising Claire's reaction so he noticed when her head immediately snapped up to look at Bianca with a frustrated, angry look on her already red face.

"What? Who?" Quil asked trying to catch back up with the conversation while half of his mind was still trying to figure out what had happened that got Claire suspended.

"Me. Isn't that why you came in here? I told your mom when I saw her when my divorce would be finalized." Bianca replied and Quil's head spun from all of the confusing information coming at him from multiple sources including the papers he was still trying to read through.

He snapped his head up to look at Bianca for the first time and noticed the way she was leaning forward across the desk while leaving her hands on the edge of it under her stomach so that her arms were squishing and shoving her cleavage out of the blouse (that seemed to have magically unbuttoned two upper buttons in the past two minutes) and directly toward Quil who had once upon a time been only too familiar with all of that cleavage she was working hard to pretend to not casually display for his benefit.

Quil could feel Claire's discomfort but couldn't quite get a read on her exact feelings when she turned around so that she wasn't facing them and then walked the few feet away to pick her bag up off the floor where she had left it.

"Wait. _My MOM_ told you that I was single?" he asked in confused disbelieve while looking directly into Bianca's eyes, which for some reason seemed to annoy her.

"Yes, three weeks ago. I ran into her when I took my kids down to La Push. She said that I should give you a call when the divorce finalized." Bianca answered as she stood back, momentarily hiding away her cleavage until she crossed her arms underneath it and shoved it all back up and out of her shirt. Quil could even see the side cup of her black lace bra.

He scoffed loudly and thought, _Dammit, Mother!_ He looked back down and immediately signed the paper stating he understood the incident that Claire had gotten suspended for, even though he didn't since he wasn't about to stay long enough to finish reading through it, and then pushed it aside to sign the paper underneath that released Claire into his custody.

"So, are you saying you aren't single then?" Bianca asked in obviously irritated confusion as she handed him his ID back that she had taken out of the industrial copy machine.

"No, Bianca. I'm in a very committed relationship and my mother knows it, so I'm sorry you were misinformed. It was good running into you. Give my best to Jon and the kids." He answered officially as he took his ID and turned away, hoping that would end the conversation.

He took Claire's bag out of her hand and was surprised by how heavy it was as he wrapped an arm around the back of her and quickly ushered her out the front glass doors. He heard Bianca muttering under her breath as he walked out the doors.

"Why would I give Jon anything? I just told you we're divorced!"

Quil and Claire walked in silence toward the parking lot for a second before they both turned to each other and spoke at the same time.

"What was _that_!?" Claire asked while he said, "So, _what_ happened?"

He gave a tentative smile when Claire giggled in response.

"Uh… any chance you'd be willing to just forget all of that and pretend you never found out I ever knew Bianca Sanchez?"

She looked at him with completely skeptical disbelieve as her only response.

"Of course not." He sighed to himself. "Look, I'll explain all about Bianca later I promise, but first I need to know what happened. Why did you get suspended?"

Claire sighed as they reached his car and leaned against the closed door.

"It was sort of just a big misunderstanding…." She hemmed.

"I figured when it said, 'physical altercation' that you had finally snapped and beat the shit out of Macy but then it listed some random kid's name and I have no idea who he is."

Claire smiled briefly at the mention of Macy but then nodded her head quickly and said, "Charlie, yeah…."

"So, what happened with this Charlie?" he asked as he reached around her and opened her door for her, pulling her towards him when he pulled the door she was leaning against.

Claire sighed again as she looked up at him and then bit her lip with an undecided look on her face.

"What?"

"Okay, just don't freak out alright?" she told him bracingly.

"Why would I freak out?" he asked in surprise even while his heart rate accelerated.

"Because…. Charlie has been asking me out… Well to prom. Charlie has been asking me to prom." She answered while watching him to gage his reaction.

"Okay… Did you tell him you have a boyfriend?" Quil asked confused.

"No…. I just told him it wasn't going to happen, but he didn't want to take no for an answer." She replied.

"Wait, hold up. Why wouldn't you tell him you had a boyfriend?"

So far, he wasn't freaking out like Claire had seemed to predict but he was definitely starting to feel irritated at the realization that she wasn't telling boys who were asking her out that she was off the market. The feeling only increased when she gave him a skeptical look like it was a ridiculous question.

"What, Claire? Why haven't you told him you have a boyfriend?" he asked letting some of his frustration color his tone.

Claire gave a small scoff and retorted, "Why didn't you tell Bianca Sanchez I was your girlfriend?"

Quil could see her frustration at the situation slip through her carefully controlled composure for the first time since she had looked at Bianca in shock when she had first mentioned him being single.

Quil turned away so that he was facing to the side instead of looking directly at her as he ran a hand through his hair, he knew he would have to talk to her about Bianca eventually, but he really didn't want to right now. He blew out a breath before simply saying,

"Okay… So, what happened when he wouldn't take no for an answer? Why did you get suspended?"

He heard Claire's sigh of frustration before she answered,

"I tried to just walk away without responding but …. I dunno, I can't figure Charlie out… He's different from the other's somehow… I think he was legitimately offended that I just ignored him and well… He reached out and grabbed my wrist when I walked past him…. Now I think he was just trying to stop me from walking away without saying anything, but I didn't think, I just reacted…." She explained quickly like she was thinking through it for the first time while looking off at some spot on the pavement a few feet to the side.

"So, what did you do?" Quil asked curiously.

Claire shrugged as she looked up at him and said, "So, I did that self-defense move Seth and Embry taught me." She demonstrated the motion of holding her hand out palm forward with her fingers curled in as she thrust her arm upwards leading with the heel of her hand. "Like I said, I didn't even stop to think about it. He just grabbed my arm and kind of whipped me around to face him and I just hmmmm-" she gave a little groan as she thrusted her arm up again. "- and then I think I broke his nose…. I felt something snap and there was blood everywhere!" Quil could hear the guilt in her voice as she hurriedly explained. "I'm just not used to regular human boys… I think I used too much force. I mean obviously I shouldn't have hit him at all, but I definitely didn't mean to break anything… He was just so soft and fragile compared to you and Bennett and all the other guys..."

She stopped her guilty ramblings and looked up at him when he chuckled. Quil responded by quickly grabbing both sides of her face and then swiftly kissing her.

"Get in."

Claire just nodded as she looked at him in confusion and then quickly struggled in his hands as she looked from side to side, trying to see if anyone had seen them in the deserted parking lot. She backed away and slid into the car before Quil handed her her bag and then the keys that were in his front pocket.

"What are you doing?" she asked in confusion as she took his keys from him.

"Just wait right here." He said easily as he backed away with a hand on the roof of the car and one on the open door.

"Wait. What are you doing, Quil? Where are you going?" she immediately asked nervously.

Quil bent down into the car and quickly kissed her again while leaving his hands behind him on the outside of the car.

"I'll be right back." he assured her casually with a wink.

"Quil!" Claire said sounding like she was moments away from having a panic attack.

"Claire, just trust me. Everything is going to be fine." He told her confidently and saw the indecisions and nervousness written all across her face. "Seriously, you can trust me, Claire. You know that." He said in a more serious tone and was relieved when she nodded her agreement in response.

"Good. Wait here, you've gotten into enough trouble for one day." He replied, and she just sighed in response as she reached across the console and pressed the ignition to start the car. The engine wouldn't start without her foot on the brake, but the power came on, turning on the console and the radio.

"I'll be right back." he assured her before he leaned in one more time and softly kissed her cheek.

He pulled out of the car and shut her door in front of him before turning and quickly jogging the length of the parking lot until he was pulling open the glass front door and walking into the front office again.

He could see Bianca gapping at him out of his peripheral vision and barely acknowledged her with a, "Hey, Bianca." as he walked directly past her desk and then opened the door to the nurse's office without permission. He let the door shut behind him before Bianca even had a chance to respond and saw a mint green curtain slightly drawn forward with a lanky boy laying in a half-seated position on the cot behind it.

Quil only had to take a step forward into the otherwise empty room to get a clear view of the dark, curly-haired kid who was holding an ice pack to his nose.

"Hey, Charlie, right?" he asked in a friendly tone.

"Yeah… Um who are you?" Charlie replied with a slightly nasal tone since the ice pack was pressed so tightly against his nose.

"I'm here to set your nose." Quil said officially.

Charlie tilted his head and gave him a confused look while he let his hand holding his ice pack drop to his lap revealing the deep red and purple bruising across his nose and under his eyes that were a tale-tell sign of a broken nose. He had two pieces of blood-soaked gauze sticking out of his nostrils.

"I thought the nurse was trying to get a hold of my mom to take me to get x-rays?"

"Naw." Quil answered confidently as he sat down by him on the stool next to the plastic cot so that he was facing him and could clearly see his face. "That's clearly broken, I've set hundreds of them before."

It was easy to convey his truthful tone since he wasn't lying. In the five or so years he had been in charge of the pack he had literally set hundreds of broken noses; the trick was to set it before it healed so you didn't have to rebreak it to set it properly, but he had done a few of those too. Just last week he had reset Collin's nose after Leah had punched him when he had catcalled at a car of girls driving past.

Before Charlie had a chance to dispute him Quil put both of his hands on his face and said authoritatively, "Just take a deep breath in."

Charlie complied while looking at the random stranger in front of him nervously. Quil placed both of his thumbs on either side of Charlie's swollen nose and commanded, "Okay, breath out."

He efficiently shifted his thumbs as Charlie exhaled so that his nose almost clicked as it went back to its proper position. Quil made sure to hold it steady with his left thumb as he reached over and grabbed the medical tape sitting on top of the lock box next to the bed with his right hand. He used his teeth to rip off one thin strip at time and then placed two strategically against the bridge of his nose to hold it in place. He pulled his hands away again as Charlie looked at him in surprise and said, "Thanks, man… That actually feels better."

"See, it doesn't even hurt that bad." Quil assured him. "Don't mess with it." He warned as Charlie reached to touch it and then pulled his hand away again.

"Sorry. So, who are you again?" Charlie replied quickly in obvious confusion.

"Quil. Quil Ateara." He answered as he held his hand out between them and Charlie reached to shake it. "Fixer of many a broken noses and boyfriend of Claire Young."

Charlie's face lost all color and his eyes opened dramatically large while he immediately tried to pull his hand out of Quil's grasp but Quil held onto him firmly as Charlie stuttered,

"Y-your Claire's boyfriend?"

"Yeah I am. And I don't really appreciate other guys that try to ask her out, you know what I mean?" he answered in his still completely calm tone of voice.

"I-I didn't know, man. She never said anything about having a boyfriend! If anything, I thought she was back together with Callahan." Charlie instantly defended while trying again to fruitlessly pull his hand out of Quil's grasp.

"Sure, sure. I could see that." He replied easily. "But here's the thing, when a girl says no, it's your job to assume she means it until she says otherwise…" Quil adjusted his grip on Charlie's hand so that his pointer finger was now squeezed between the muscles in his palm below his thumb and forefinger.

"Now see," Quil continued in a quiet whisper as he leaned slightly forward so that Charlie could still hear him. "I think you got off easy with just Claire hitting you, because if it ever happens that you lay a hand on Claire, or any other girl for that matter, again, well…." Quil squeezed the muscles in his hand around Charlie's fingers and gave the slightest twist until he felt the small click he had been waiting for.

"I won't stop at a broken nose… got it?" he finished as Charlie gave a gasp of pain. Quil kept a hold on his hand in his that he could already feel swelling while he continued to stare Charlie down until he nodded emphatically and said,

"I got it!"

Quil let his hand go as he reached over and grabbed Charlie's left hand with the ice pack in it, he pulled it over until he placed it on top of his right hand and pressed it, so the ice pack was over it.

"Good. Then we're all good here, Charlie." He replied in his same official, friendly tone of voice as he stood up from the cot. "Alternate the ice between your hand and face every few minutes until the nurse can get you a second one." He walked casually towards the door while continuing to give Charlie instructions, "You don't need an x-ray for your face, I set your nose just fine. Claire did a good job, it was a very clean break. Have the doctor x-ray your hand. That finger is broken and will need to be wrapped and splinted. It'll heal in about three to four weeks. Nice to meet your, Charlie."

Quil looked back at him over his shoulder as he reached to open the door, but Charlie's only reply was to continue to watch him in shocked fear. Quil just shook his head as he pushed the door open and casually walked out.

"Hey, Bianca." He said as he approached her desk again.

"Is _Claire Young_ the girl you're in a 'very committed relationship' with?" she asked in obvious distaste while looking past him out the window in front of her that he now realized had a clear view directly to where his Camaro was parked.

"Yup. She is." He answered immediately.

Apparently, she had been expecting him to deny it because she turned her head so sharply to look at him he would be surprised if it didn't give her whiplash.

"You can't go out with me because you're dating a _high school student_?" she said in completely disgusted disbelieve.

"Well when you say it like that it doesn't sound so great, but yeah that's basically the gist of it." He answered unfazed. He didn't see any point in denying it especially since he now wanted as many people at this school as possible to know that he was Claire Young's boyfriend.

"Ugh." She scoffed in obvious disgust. "You're seriously dating a _minor_?"

"Seriously." He answered still confidently, "Hey listen, I need a favor. Can you tell me what class Bennett Callahan is in?"

He expected her to tell him to go to hell but figured it couldn't hurt to ask. He must have wounded her pride more than he had thought by preferring to date a woman half their age instead of her and wanted to get rid of him asap because she gave him a dirty look like he was the most offensive thing she had ever seen before immediately looking at her computer and typing Bennett's name in a search bar.

"He's in English right now with Mr. O'Brian. Room one twelve."

"Thanks, Bianca. You're the best." He said easily as he patted the top of her desk and backed away to the door that led out to the hall of classrooms behind him.

It took Quil less than two minutes to find room 112 and look in the open doorway to the class being taught inside. Bennett was sitting smack in the middle of the class looking bored as he tapped his pencil absentmindedly against his desk.

"Pst." Quil said way too quietly for anyone with normal hearing to ever notice but Bennett's head swiveled immediately to look at him.

Quil jerked his head to the side in response, indicating that Bennett join him in the hall and Bennett didn't even hesitate before he grabbed his unopened backpack and stood up. He was halfway to the door before the teacher (Mr. O'Brian apparently) stopped him.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Callahan?" he asked from the front of the room, pausing his lecture on some depressing Shakespeare play to call attention to him.

"Um…." Bennett replied hesitantly while he looked back at Quil still standing in the doorway.

"Sorry for the interruption. I just need to speak to Bennett for a moment. He'll be right back." Quil stepped forward to say.

"How'd you get in here?" the teacher asked suspiciously.

"I came through the front office. The receptionist told me what classroom he was in." Quil said honestly.

"And who are you exactly?" he asked still sounding unconvinced.

"Um…. his older brother." Quil replied.

The room of students immediately broke out in whispers. Mr. O'Brian quickly looked from Quil to Bennett who nodded his head in confirmation of the statement and then back again, clearly noting the similarities between the two giant sized men.

"Alright, but if you aren't back in five-minutes, Mr. Callahan, I'm calling the front office to report you truant." He said over top of the whispered conversations.

"You got it." Bennett replied a little sarcastically as he faced towards Quil and walked out the door in front of him.

Quil grabbed the door and gave it tug so that it shut behind him. The second it was closed he grabbed Bennett's upper arm and dragged him a few feet down the hall until they weren't in view of any of the windows on the classroom doors around them.

"What the hell is going on with Claire?" he asked immediately as he dropped Bennett's arm.

"Um…. What do you mean?" Bennett asked evasively as he looked off to the side instead of making eye-contact.

Something Claire had said when she had explained about breaking Charlie's nose had stuck out to Quil and he was determined to get the non-sugar-coated-Claire-edited truth. She had said something about Charlie being different than the 'others' and Quil wanted to know exactly what 'others' meant.

"Well, I just got called down here to pick Claire up because she got suspended for breaking the nose of a kid that apparently has repeatedly asked her to prom. So what the hell is going on, Bennett?"

Bennett huffed out a sigh before looking directly at Quil and then answering in one certain breath,

"The football team has a bet about who can take Claire to the prom. There's a lot of money involved, and the ultimate goal is to take her virginity on prom night and win the big pool."

"What." Quil said in such a dangerous voice it clearly wasn't a question.

"Look, man, I wanted to tell you months ago, but Claire asked me as a friend not to tell you about it. She figured you would freak out and that it would die down once everyone figured out there was no way in hell she was going to accept anyone…. It did die for a while after the dean was arrested but the last few weeks, once people started looking for actual dates for prom, she started getting a lot of attention again. I've kept everyone at bay, but this was how she wanted to handle it…." Bennett explained with a voice of disapproval. Quil was suddenly glad his hand wasn't still on Bennett's arm because he suddenly wanted to snap something. "I feel like I owe her this since it's basically Macy's fault the whole thing started." Quil looked up at him in surprise so Bennett explained. "She basically told the entire football team the details I'd told her about getting to second base with Claire and that started the whole bet about trying to take Claire's virginity on prom night."

Quil was almost seeing red and could hear his heart pounding in his ears. His blood pressure was so high he figured he was probably at risk for having a stroke. He suddenly saw the memory of Claire confiding in him about Macy how told some of the guys from the football team what had happened between her and Bennett after the Midvale game. _Why didn't she tell me this!?_

"That's why you broke up with her?" Quil asked him in a surprisingly calm tone.

"Yeah, man. That's why I broke up with her." Bennett assured him.

"That was _months_ ago." Quil said in disbelieve.

"I know." Bennett replied sounding ashamed.

"And you never thought you should tell me anyways!?" Quil hissed in frustration.

"Look," Bennett started, looking back at him and sounding frustrated, "I get that you're my alpha and we're all brothers and whatever but Claire's my best friend. She asked me for this and even though I didn't agree, I would never let anything happen to her and it's not my job to get in the middle of your relationship!"

Quil huffed and tensed to punch the lockers next to him, only barely refraining since he knew he'd dent it so badly it would probably crack.

"Fine. Just get back to class. I'll figure out what I want to do with you when I can see straight again." Quil huffed. "Where the hell is this football team I'm about to deal with?"

"Football season ended like six months ago, remember? But a bunch of the guys from the team are in P.E. and Coach Dooger is the P.E. teacher." Bennett said as he started leading the way down the hall.

"Where the hell do you think you're going? Get back to class." Quil snapped probably too loudly.

"I'm coming with you." Bennett replied undeterred.

"I don't need your backup, Bennett. Get your ass back to class."

"No. But you might need me to restrain you. Besides I want to be there when you put an end to this and put those assholes in their place." He answered easily.

Quil just shook his head to himself but continued to follow behind Bennett without any more protest. He couldn't argue with his logic and figured he was better off with Bennett there to hold him back if he needed him too.

"Whose nose did she break?" Bennett asked curiously.

"Uh…. Charlie something… I _just met_ him." Quil finished significantly.

Bennett looked over at him in surprise but not disapproval.

"Really? Hmm there are about six guys ahead of him on my list of douches I'd like to see get their face broken for how they've treated her."

"Well let's go see if we can remedy that." Quil said darkly and Bennett gave a nod of approval as they reached the men's locker room.

Quil wasn't familiar with the school's layout since he had obviously gone to the high school in La Push, but he immediately had some flashbacks to his own adolescents as he walked into the distinctly smelling locker room. The period must have been almost over since the room was full of teenaged boys in various stages of undress changing out of sweaty P.E. clothes.

The room was loud with so many conversations all echoing over top of each other and lockers slamming, so no one really looked up when they walked through the door. It instantly went quiet though once Quil called loudly enough for everyone to hear over the noise,

"Who here is on the football team!?"

"Who the hell are you?" a middle-aged man in red gym shorts with a whistle around his neck called angrily from the door of an office across the locker room.

"I'm Claire Young's boyfriend and I want to know who the hell is on the football team." Quil said significantly and his barely controlled temper only flared all the stronger when the coach's reaction was immediately panicked recognition.

The room went eerily quiet when the man didn't respond and Quil's hands were shaking when he said,

"Really? _No one_ here is on the football team?"

There was no response except for the obviously nervous silence. Quil noticed a large kid next to the Coach look quickly into his office and then look away again once he realized what he was doing. Quil followed his gaze to see a large glass jar on the shelf in the office that was completely stuffed full of cash.

He had to open and close his hands several times to stop the tremors of anger now rocking his body, threatening to release the infuriated wolf inside of him. He felt more than saw Bennett sidle up next to him like he was backing him up when really, he knew it was a reminder that he was there to hold him back if he couldn't control himself.

Quil took a deep steadying breath before he walked across the room until he was directly in front of the P.E. coach. The man straightened up to his full height about five inches below Quil.

"You're a pathetic, failure of a man." Quil said surprisingly calmly. He saw a flash of something in the man's eye as he easily reached around the man and grabbed the jar of cash.

"Look, it built team camaraderie and-" the coach started to defend but was cut off.

Something snapped inside of Quil at the sound of the man's voice making justifications and before he could even finish speaking Quil had decked him across the face.

The room was completely silent as if every single boy was holding his breath. Quil wasn't shaking anymore and could barely feel any pain in his hand to indicate that he had hit him, but the coach was on the floor in front of him with his hand to his face and groans of pain coming from his mouth, Quil would be surprised if his jaw wasn't broken. Bennett was there instantly with a restraining hand on Quil's arm.

"Naw, it's good." Quil said confidently to assure him he was still in control. "This is over now…. Right? This is over?" he finished loudly enough that he was addressing the entire stunned room.

The coach didn't reply but any of the students that were brave enough to look at him instead of the floor, were quickly nodding in agreement. Quil just shook his head in disgust and turned his back on the man on the floor in his office and walked out of the locker room without bothering to look at anyone else.

Bennett quickly followed out behind him and then clapped a hand to the back of his shoulder the second the door to the locker room closed behind them.

"That was awesome! You have no idea how many times I've dreamed about someone -usually me- punching Coach Dooger in the face!" Bennett said excitedly.

"Get to class, Bennett." Quil warned in a dangerous tone as he continued to walk down the hall with the jar in his hand.

"You okay, man?" Bennett asked, clearly surprised at the amount of anger Quil was obviously still experiencing.

Quil stopped to turn on Bennett. "Look, my issue isn't with you but I'm _hella_ pissed right now and clearly have some issues in my relationship I didn't know about that I need to go address. So, NO, I'm not okay."

Bennett immediately raised his arms in surrender and gave Quil a sympathetic look as he backed away and said placatingly,

"Alright, I get it. Tell Claire to call me if she needs anything and I guess I'll see you later."

Quil just nodded his head appreciatively as he pressed his lips tightly together to keep himself from snapping at Bennett just as a release from his frustration. Punching the coach hadn't been nearly enough to make him feel better.

He watched Bennett walk all the way back to his class and slip in the door before he blew out the breath he had been holding and followed him down the hall. He walked right past the classroom Bennett had gone in and then past the door to the front office until he walked out the doors that led to the front parking lot.

He could see Claire sitting in the front seat, drumming her fingers nervously against her upper arms as she hugged herself tightly before he even got close to the car. The sight of her managed to cool off some of his blazing anger but it wasn't close to enough to extinguish it.

She didn't look up until he opened the unlocked door to the driver's side and slid in. He handed her the jar in his hand and simply said,

"Here. Take this."

"What is this?" she asked in confusion as she stared at the jar obviously filled with mostly twenties and fifties.

"That's your virginity pool." Quil said with an edge to his voice.

Claire's eyes went huge as she kept her stare on the jar. She blinked once and when she opened her eyes again they were full of tears. She cleared her throat softly before she turned to look at him

"I'm sorry. I should have told you…" Her voice cracked even though she whispered it.

"Yeah, you should have." Quil answered in a voice that sounded disappointed even to his own ears as he turned away from her and started the car since he couldn't look at her anymore. He didn't say anything as he put the car in drive and pulled out while Claire choked on what sounded like a sob.

* * *

 ***Author's Note***

 **Whew... Alright, that was a major chapter with a TON of content to it... like a _lot_ happens. What did you think of Quil's reaction to finding about the prom/virginity bet? You guys I thrive off of your responses and without feedback I sometimes have trouble finding enough motivation to get the next chapter out... (not to whine or anything... ) so please consider sharing your reaction if your hoping for a chapter sooner rather than later because I promise it makes a huge difference so leave a review! Alright, that's it, you guys are great!**

 **xoxo**

 **Jess**


	22. Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

 **Claire:**

She sucked in a deep breath and swallowed some tears back down as Claire tried to say the only thing she could.

"…I'm really sorry, Quil."

He didn't respond for a moment, but she noticed how he wouldn't look at her at all as he just continued to drive. Suddenly he pulled off to the side of the road only a few blocks from the shop, immediately making her feel nervous about why he would stop.

"Why, Claire? Why wouldn't you tell me!? Why would you lie to me?" he said in a frustrated, desperate voice.

It hurt to think she had lied to him, but she knew he was right and that he was more than a little justified in his feelings.

"I didn't want you to know." She admitted quietly while her voice shook from all the emotion she had been trying to suppress for so long, "This whole thing has been so humiliating, and I didn't want it to be real… I felt like telling you about it made it real."

She knew he was upset but the fact that he wouldn't look at her even though he had stopped driving meant he was more than just slightly hurt.

"Oh, it was real." He said darkly as he nodded down toward the jar in her hands she had forgotten she was holding and now knew what it was.

"I don't want this!" she said immediately and tried to shove it back at him like it was a snake he had handed to her. She couldn't seem to help it, she never wanted to touch the jar again.

He didn't take it but looked at her skeptically and said sarcastically, "What do you want me to do, take it back?"

"I don't care, give it to charity, keep it, return it. But I don't want it!" she said more insistently trying to get him to take it.

" _You_ do that. It's not my money. I didn't earn it." He replied with his hands up in the air, refusing to take the jar.

"And I did!? That's what you're saying?" Claire's voice raised probably a whole octave higher in pitch.

"What? No! I'm _not_ saying that. I'm _saying_ that you chose not to have me be any part of this and now I'm not gonna come in months later and take the couple thousand that would never have been there if you had told me about it when you should have." He said definitively.

The tears that had never stopped streaming out of Claire's eyes picked up in intensity and she stopped trying to push the jar at Quil. She bent forward so that her face was partially hidden, and he wouldn't see the look of silent defeat on her face as she shoved the jar in her bag in front of her just so that she wouldn't have to look at it.

"I was going to tell you if it got too bad… I wasn't trying to lie to you. …I just didn't want you to worry about me and I didn't want to pull out of school and I knew you'd want me to. I thought it would go away on its own and it did! It stopped! Nobody bothered me for months, until last week and by then it had been so long I didn't know how to tell you!" Claire sniffed as she wiped at the tears streaming down her face leaving what she was sure was a black and brown makeup smeared mess in their wake.

Quil just nodded his head like he understood or even expected her explanation. She hated the way his forehead was creased together between his brows and how he couldn't stand to even look at her. He kept glancing at her and then looking back out the windshield like he was too disappointed to even see her.

"I'm really sorry, Quil! It was stupid. I know that. I should have told you." She begged wishing she knew what to say to make him feel better.

Again, he just nodded without looking at her and the weight of his disappointment combined with the humiliation of her suspension plus the pool for prom and her virginity felt like it was enough weight to crush her. She was surprised she was even able to still breathe with the tight grip around her chest.

"Please say something." She begged in a quiet voice.

He could yell and scream and be as mad at her as he wanted but anything would be better than his silent disappointment in her.

He opened his mouth to try to say something, but no sound came out. He shut it as he started shaking his head back and forth still without looking at her.

"What?" she asked desperately as she reached across the no contact barrier between them and grabbed his hand in his lap, desperate for connection with him.

He turned sharply to look at her when she grabbed his hand and she could see a mixture of different emotions playing out across his face. The biggest by far seemed to be his disappointment but Claire wasn't certain what exactly about the situation he was most disappointed in. The fact that she had hidden it from her or that there was a bet at all?

He quickly pulled his hand out of hers as he reached it up and ran it through his hair before bringing it back to tug drastically at the hair on his hairline near his temples making it stand on end when he released it. She forced away the small sting of rejection as she pulled her hand back to her lap. His left hand was still on the steering wheel and he could have used it instead of dropping hers.

"I don't know, Claire." He huffed sounding both frustrated and defeated.

He blew out a frustrated breath as Claire forced herself to stay silent until he continued.

"I just feel like such an idiot right now..." He said finally, speaking towards the windshield.

"Why?" Claire whispered patiently.

She wanted to immediately jump in with how stupid _she_ felt and how he was the opposite of the idiot in this situation but knew she needed to give him the time to open up instead of shutting down when she immediately jumped down his throat with explanations.

"Because…!" he said immediately like it was an answer. He hit the steering wheel in frustration with a huff before continuing. "…. Because I thought we were in this great place. I thought we were super solid. That us as a couple finally after all these years just proved how flawlessly imprinting works, that we were always supposed to be together like this and now I realize that you don't even trust me!"

"Wha- No, Quil! We _are_ great- We are supposed to- I do trust you! I just screwed up, but it's not a reflection of how I love you." Claire insisted and was surprised to realize that her conviction had been the thing that finally stopped her crying.

"Really, Claire? Because-" Quil began but then cut off suddenly while looking away from her again.

"Because what?" she asked, desperately wanting to reach out and touch him but held back since she was afraid he would just pull away again.

"Because….. All that shit with Ali…. Her death…. Her and her friends…. Do you have any idea how hard that was for me to talk about?" he said in broken jumbled segments without looking over at her until the very end.

Claire swallowed as she bit her lip, not sure how to respond. She had known it had been _incredibly_ difficult for him to open up to her about it, she had never doubted that, but she didn't want to be arrogant and try to assume she knew exactly what he had gone through either.

"I know that was hard for you… That's why I appreciated it so much… I'm so proud of you for-"

But he cut her off like he hadn't even heard her speaking,

"Do you know why I did it though? Because _you're_ my person. The person I lean on and confide in and share my burden with when I'm going through something. The one I'm willing to be vulnerable enough to do that with..." Claire suddenly knew where he was going with this and felt her heart drop. She could feel the blood draining out of her face before he even finished speaking and was suddenly so ashamed of herself she was the one looking out the windshield since she couldn't bear to meet his eyes. "…I just assumed that we were at that point. That you were there with me too. That you trusted me, that you leaned on me… but obviously not… … And by the way, you have no idea how hard I'm working right now not to read into the fact that Bennett -your EX- _boyfriend_ \- was the one you chose to confide in _AND_ that you asked him to lie to me about it."

Claire bit on her lip as she felt the full weight of Quil's chastisement. She could see now exactly what a mistake it was to hide everything from him when she should have just been honest with him to begin with. Her only prayer was that her crucial mistake wouldn't be enough to push him away when she needed him so desperately.

 _Okay, Claire, grownup time. Time to quit hand-picking the truth to share with him. Time to give him complete honesty and be prepared to deal with the consequences… It's the only way he'll respect you enough to trust you…_

She took a steadying breath to brace herself as she wiped her face of the tears streaming down her cheeks. She squared her shoulders and then turned to face him. She saw a look of shocked surprised that she couldn't quite read from him when she faced him but was too busy trying to force out her words before she lost her nerve to analyze what it meant.

"You're right, and I'm _incredibly_ sorry. You were vulnerable and open and honest, and you deserve that same level of commitment in a relationship…." She couldn't stop herself from tearing up and her voice from shaking as she forced herself to continue, "But I _promise_ I'll do better… I was immature to hide something like this from you and asking Bennett to keep it a secret too. I was so stupid for thinking somehow that as long as you didn't know it was happening that it didn't matter. That I could pretend it wasn't real instead of dealing with it. I just didn't know how you'd handle it or how you'd look at me after you knew…. I just ….. I'm so sorry, Quil." She was forcing back sobs by the time she finished and was pretty positive she was barely comprehendible with how much her voice was shaking. She looked down at her shaking hands and let out a sob before she finally whispered in a broken voice her deepest fear, "Just please don't give up on me…."

She heard Quil's sigh before he reached around her to put his hand on her back and pulled her towards him. It was so uncomfortable to try to lean across the console between them to put her head against his chest that she opted for unbuckling her seatbelt before she simply lifted herself across it and landed in Quil's lap. It was a tight squeeze and she had to straddle him to make it work. Both of her legs were pinched between his and the parts of the cars on either side of him, but it was worth it.

She blew out a breath of pure relief that came from the contact with him she desperately needed as she leaned into his chest and he wrapped his arms securely around her. She closed her eyes as she listened to his steady heartbeat, grateful for the reminder that he was alive and that his heart was (hopefully) still hers as she tried to pull back on the tears shaking through her entire body. She felt him blow out a breath that hit the top of her head and made her hair fly off in opposite directions.

"I would never give up on you, Claire." He said like she was being ridiculous, and she smiled into his chest at the certainty in his voice and how secure it made her feel.

"I'm really sorry." She repeated into his shirt.

"I know, baby, I know." He sighed still sounding annoyed but like he was now accepting it too. His hand was slowly rubbing a soothing path up and down her back exactly the same as he done when she was a child.

"I just don't get what you thought I do if you'd just told me….. Force you to yank out of school and lock you down in my apartment with Butch and I?"

Claire shrugged as she bit her lip since he made it sound so ridiculous.

"Maybe," she admitted hesitantly, "… or beat the crap out of every member of the football team while tattooing your name across my forehead…."

Quil scoffed out a small laugh as he shook his head and Claire pulled back, so she could look at him.

"Oh, trust me, _everyone_ at that school now knows you're my girlfriend. I made sure of that…"

She smiled at him, relieved he wasn't more upset by her honesty. His face lit up in response to her smile and her own grew so much because of it that it hurt her cheeks. She loved him so much she felt like the words alone weren't enough to adequately express it.

"So, what _did_ you do when you found out?" she asked hesitantly as she looked down at his chest and brought her hands up to rest on each of his exposed biceps.

"I told you; I made sure everyone knew I had a claim on you and that if they messed with you they'd have to deal with me." He answered unconcerned.

Claire hesitated for just a second, not sure if she wanted to know before asking, "Did you hurt him?"

"Who?" he asked confused and she found it an ominous sign that instead of just insisting he hadn't hurt anyone he needed her to specify who exactly.

"Charlie. Is he the one who told you about the bet?"

"Oh… No. I just set his nose for him…. _Well_ and technically I broke his finger, but seriously he'll be fine. That was just to teach him a lesson about laying a hand on a woman when he grabbed you. I didn't lose my cool or anything. And no, he wasn't the one who told me. I tracked down Bennett and made him tell me what was going on."

Claire nodded her head with her eyebrows raised as her only response. He had broken Charlie's finger? But he hadn't lost his cool or felt like he'd legitimately hurt him, so….

"Did you hurt someone else?" she asked confused.

She felt Quil hesitate beneath her for a second before he hemmed and then said, "… Uh…. I may have broken the football coach's jaw….."

"You broke Coach Dooger's jaw!?" Claire almost shouted in shocked disbelief.

"He knew about it, Claire." Quil said in a dead-set voice. "He knew about the bet and he did nothing to stop it, he may have even been encouraging it. Trust me, he got what was coming to him."

"Did you hit anybody else?" she asked as she tried to digest the information that he'd punched out the prominent head of her school's football program on her behalf.

"No. That was all it took." He answered simply, and Claire had no problem believing that was all it would take to shut the entire football team down and make them all too afraid to even walk past her in the hall for fear of incurring the same wraith of Quil.

She blew out another breath as she looked down at his tattoo under her hand and muttered, "Well thank you for that. And I really am sorry for not telling you. I'll never hide anything from you ever again. Scouts honor."

Quil placed his left hand under her chin and tilted her head up until she was looking at him. "I know, hun. I'm sorry you felt like you couldn't tell me about it. I'll always take care of you. I'm not some rage-aholic that's going to lose it and hide you from the world while tearing apart an entire high school's worth of teenaged boys…."

Claire nodded as she looked at him, realizing that she hadn't given him the credit he deserved by assuming he would react like that.

"I love you." She said simply.

"Oh, baby girl… you have no idea how in love with you I am." He replied, and Claire had to smile around his fingers on her cheeks while his palm still held her chin before he used his grip on her to pull her lips to his.

She loved it when he kissed her like this. Granted, she had had limited kissing experience since she'd had such a small number of partners but from what she could tell; Quil was the cream of the crop when it came to expert kissers.

Whenever it came to really emotional moments he always had this way of kissing her where he was the complete alpha in control of the kiss and yet he seemed to perfectly counter-balance that wolf aspect of himself with a tenderness that portrayed his deep heart. She had no idea how he did it, but it was always heart stopping and made her feel meltable, especially with the way his jaw quivered whenever he kissed her so tenderly.

A couple minutes later she was placing her hands on both of his cheeks and holding him still while she pulled away from him to catch her breath. She knew if she didn't stop now any voice of reason in the back of her mind would suddenly shut down and then die and her body would be in complete control and at the mercy of Quil's whims…. especially since she'd already been straddling his lap before he even started kissing her.

She blew out a big breath and felt her cheeks warm in slight embarrassment when she huffed, "Whew!" Quil immediately chuckled in response and pulled back his hand from on her rib cage where his thumb was toying with the lace that hung just past the underwire of her bra and reached up to rub his thumb across her heated cheek.

"I love you." He laughed in response to her reaction.

"Good." She muttered as she continued to smile unstoppably and then nodded against his thumb, "So…. Are we okay? Are you still upset with me?" she asked nervously, hoping the fact that she was still on his lap in the front seat of his car would be enough to make him be in a forgiving mood.

"No. I guess I'm not still upset with you and yes I'd say we're _definitely_ okay." He muttered a little suggestively as he used his hand against her face to move her hair back as he buried his face in her neck and finished speaking with his lips directly against her skin.

Claire shivered at the sensations his lips were giving her but managed to speak normally even though her voice cracked when he nipped at the skin just below her ear and then licked against it.

"Good, so …. can(voice crack) we please talk about Bianca Sanchez now?"

She felt Quil stiffen with his tongue still against her skin. He pulled back just enough to speak into her hair, "You want to talk about Bianca Sanchez _now_!?"

Claire nodded her head in response. She was too nervous to speak. But she couldn't help it. She couldn't stop thinking about this woman who was obviously from Quil's past and kept her from being able to relax even while she was kissing him… though she was completely torn between wanting to know every single detail of Bianca as far as Quil was concerned and not wanting to know anything about her at all.

Quil huffed as he pulled back up into a straighter sitting position and Claire suddenly questioned if straddling his lap was really the best place for her to have this conversation. She started to shift as she lifted her legs to move back over the console but Quil just tightened his hold with his arms around her.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Eh…" Claire hummed as she gestured toward her seat.

"Naw, you're good here, right?" he said easily as he started running the fingers of his left hand through her hair down her back.

"…. Yeah… until this conversation gets too uncomfortable that is…" she admitted with the same spirit of brutal honesty. It seemed that now that she had completely released her filter she couldn't find it again.

Quil blew out another breath and pulled his hand out of her hair as he looked out the window to the side and sighed softly.

"… Bianca…. Bianca was just a girl I went to high school with…" he started simply, and Claire could tell that as lame as that was he was sincerely trying to give her an explanation.

"… So….. You had sex with her." Claire summed up simply.

Quil looked back at her before he replied lamely, "…Yeah….."

"Yeah….. How many times?" Claire asked trying to stay calm because it was exactly what she had expected from the second Bianca Sanchez had said his name.

He blew out another breath and ran a hand through his hair again as he replied, "Does it matter?"

When Claire's hands started to shake, and her heart started pounding loudly enough she knew he could hear it she quickly put her hands on the console behind her and forced her butt over it until she was in her seat and could slide her feet back over toward her bag.

"Okay, yes I had sex with her but honestly Claire, it was no big deal. She didn't mean anything to me and I never saw her again after I met you!" Quil said quickly when he seemed upset by her sudden departure from his lap.

"Did you mean something to _her_?" she asked quickly and could see from the look on his face that she had hit the nail on the head.

He didn't respond until Claire groaned next to him and put her face in her hands wondering exactly how much he had meant to the girl from his past.

"Okay yeah, she maybe wanted to be more than friends…." He admitted.

"You mean, friends-with-benefits, right? Because Bennett and I are friends and we've never had sex…. Even when we were dating…. That's not normal friendship behavior." Claire said immediately and could tell she was starting to ramble from her agitation.

"We never dated-." Quil answered assuredly.

"Does she think that?"

Silence.

Claire looked over at him to see the guilty look on his face again and groaned in response.

 _Great, now I have Quil's ex-girlfriend working the front desk where I broke HER aid's nose….. maybe she'll want to be BFF's._ she thought sarcastically.

"… It was never really dating. We just had a relationship that consisted of what was the early 2000's version of Netflix and chill… but I'm telling you Claire, it-... _she_ never meant anything to me." He said quickly while he reached a hand across the car to touch her arm.

She flinched ever so slightly at the touch. It was minimal, but she knew he noticed. She couldn't help it. It was hard to be touched by him while he talked about sleeping with the woman they had been speaking to less than a half hour before.

"Then why did you just say you had a relationship with her if it didn't mean anything!?" she asked starting to feel desperate.

She had had no idea that actually seeing the physical proof of Quil's past exploits would hurt so much worse than just knowing about them. She had to force the tears that were pooling in her eyes back down as she swallowed loudly before they could escape.

"I said I had a relationship with her not that I was _in_ a relationship with her." he clarified like it would mean all the difference.

She knew that it logically probably should but currently it didn't seem to make any difference at all while she was suddenly picturing him in this very car with Bianca on his lap looking a decade younger even though he looked exactly the same.

"A _sexual_ relationship. That's what you mean. You had a sexual relationship with her?" she tried to say it reasonably and not like she was accusing him of anything, but she was pretty sure it only came across as desperate.

She looked up from her hands that were shaking again when Quil groaned and put his face in his hands.

"Yes, we had a sexual relationship." He admitted into his hands with his voice slightly muffled.

Claire nodded in response as she bit her lip in stress.

"How many times?" she asked knowing she was shooting herself in the foot since she was definitely better off not knowing.

She also knew in the back of her mind that he had never demanded any explanations of her about her relationship with Bennett and that he didn't owe her in explanations about his past, but she couldn't seem to reign in her emotions to be reasonable when she was thinking about Quil with someone else… a very clearly experience and sexualized someone else….

"I don't know." Quil said desperately with a shrug. "A lot I guess."

"A lot? What's a lot? More than five times?" she asked because she couldn't stop herself even though she wanted to slap a hand over her mouth before she could get it out.

When he turned in shock to give her a what was a skeptical look in response to her question, her heart dropped, and her stomach turned.

 _I think I'm gonna be sick!_ She thought at his reaction when she realized how young and naive she sounded for thinking that more than five was _a lot_. Her stomach suddenly heaved in response to what _his_ definition of a lot had to be.

"I need air." She muttered as she reached for the handle of the car.

"Claire!" Quil protested but she was already throwing the door open and almost hit a car driving past in her haste to get out before she either puked or screamed. She would definitely regret doing either of those things

"Claire!" Quil said more anxiously in response but she wasn't listening.

She thought she heard him say something else, but she was already shutting the door. By the time he got out of the car she was sliding down the side until her butt hit the damp side of the road with her back against the front tire. She was placing her head between her knees by the time he reached her and immediately slid down to sit next to her.

She was suddenly grateful for his intuitive connection with her because she had been certain he was going to wrap his arm around her and she didn't know what she would do if he currently tried to touch her …. Probably start screaming nonsensical things like how it was unfair how much she loved him….. She felt his arm brush past her leg until he grabbed her hand sticking out in front of her. That was good. She could handle that.

"Claire, I don't know what to say... It was a long time ago and I'm sorry. I wish I could change it, I really do. I wish you never had to meet her. Trust me when I say I never counted on that happening." He said sincerely.

"Meet her?" she scoffed with her head still spinning between her legs. "Quil, I see her on an almost weekly basis and I didn't just meet her, I watched her hit on you while hearing about how your mom thought it was such a better idea for you to be with her when she _knows_ you're dating me…" her tears started to pathetically leak out of the corners of her eyes that were squeezed tightly shut as she admitted it. She wished she could act like it had been no big deal instead.

"Baby, I'm really sorry." He said simply before he leaned against her.

She sat up quickly so that her back was against the car again.

"Were there others?" she suddenly asked, feeling like she wanted to know all the information now so that she would never be blinded sighted like that again.

"No! Well…. yes, but not like Bianca. The most I ever hooked up with anyone else was two or three times."

She didn't know if that made her feel better or worse but reminded herself that as long as she was Quil's future none of his past would ever matter, but her mouth opened of its own accord and the first thing she thought popped out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

"And you're sure you're clean after all that!? You don't have some STD or kid running around we don't know about?" she asked with a mixture of sincerity and desperation and a complete lack of tact.

"NO!" he answered certainly. "I _always_ used protection and I got tested regularly even for the first couple years after I stopped having sex. I'm completely clean, Claire. I'd never even think of touching you if I weren't." he ran the fingers of his free hand through the strands of her hair by her face as he spoke, and Claire nodded her head gratefully in response. "And as far as kids go… no one has ever shown up to claim paternity and I've never had any reason to suspect a kid, so I honestly think we're good." He had a hinted of a smile and his tone was more teasing as he finished so she was grateful he hadn't been offended by what had basically been accusations.

Claire just nodded again as she bit against her lip until she realized she was chewing on it.

"Say something." He said quickly after she only kept nodding.

She quickly shook her head feeling too uncomfortable and embarrassed to speak.

"Claire," he immediately chastised, "What are you thinking? Tell me, please!" he begged.

She took in a huge deep breath before suddenly answering as honestly as possible,

"I'm thinking about how uneven our relationship is… I feel so stupid now for thinking it was a _big deal_ to admit that Bennett got to second base… that seems so insignificant…. …My whole life, you've always seemed so …." She struggled for a word for a moment before continuing, "… _unobtainable_ … like I could never reach your level with how much older and experienced you were, and I guess for a while there I felt like things evened out after I dated Bennett and had had someone in my life who wasn't _you_ … … But now…. Now I have bets on my virginity and a boyfriend with a sexual history so complicated I don't even understand it…. I'm so far out of my depth here I can't even see the surface anymore…"

She looked up just in time to see the hurt splash on Quil's face that she knew must have been a mirror image of hers from moments before and her heart squeezed in response, kicking herself for her too brutal honesty.

"Claire…." He muttered like he didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry... You have no idea how sorry. If I could go back and be a virgin again for you, I would. In a heartbeat. If I could change the past and save myself for you, I would, but I can't, and I don't know what to do about it now… You think _you're_ in over your head!? I'm the over-thirty-year-old that's never even had a girlfriend before and has to use every single ounce of self-control I've gained over the last _seventeen years_ of being a wolf to simply not tear Bennett to shreds _every single time_ I even _think_ about how he got to second base with you and I _still_ haven't! It makes me see red, Claire. We've already dated for as long as the entire span of your relationship with him and he's gotten more of you than I've had but of course that makes me the world's biggest hypocrite because how on earth can I ever ask you to forgive -what you're right, was a very complicated history- when I'm still wanting to rip apart ….. yeah…." He suddenly cut off randomly after he seemed to realize he had been rambling.

Claire sighed as she squeezed his hand, relieved in spite of herself, for knowing that he was feeling a level of the same irrational jealousy and discomfort she was feeling over him. It was quiet for a second as the words he'd said settled between the two of them.

"I don't need you to be a virgin for me….. It actually makes me feel better that you'll actually know what you're doing, and we aren't just going in totally blind…" she admitted honestly and then blushed a little when he smiled and scoffed a laughed in response. He switched her hand in his to his left across her lap so that he could wrap his arm around her.

"That's true… That's one benefit." He agreed like he was conceding to her point.

She nodded her head in agreement before she continued.

"And the only reason you haven't gotten to second base is because we're taking it slow and we both know if you reach second you're going to go all the way for home with me egging you on the whole way there." She said confidently.

They both had their heads pressed against the car behind them, but she turned hers to look at him when he did. He was giving her a small, appreciative smile that said it only helped him a little bit, so she continued,

"If it makes you feel better, the only reason I felt comfortable going there with Bennett was because I knew it wasn't going any farther…. …With you, that's _definitely_ not the case…." She said sincerely and the smile he gave her in response was much more genuine.

"If it makes _you_ feel better, I've only ever had sex before… I can honestly say I've never made love to anyone … It'll be my first time too…. I'm actually kind of nervous about it." He said in the same tone of admittance.

Claire gave him the same appreciative but disbelieving smile he had just given to her, seriously doubting that after all his experience he would ever feel any amount of nervousness over being with her.

"No really! As bad as it sounds I was never really that worried about any of those girl's feelings… I figured as long as it was consensual then I wasn't taking advantage and the only reason I ever even tried to make it good for them was to see how much more I could get in return. I was a dick and with you….." he faded off suddenly.

"What?" Claire asked seriously as she squeezed his hand again in encouragement.

"Claire, do you have any idea how much pressure it is for me to be your first time? It's almost so much pressure that I don't feel up to the challenge. Like how can I ever make it memorable enough? How can I ever show you how much I love you? How can I ever be your everything so that being your one and only will be enough for you to never have any regrets?"

Claire blew out a breath as she shook her head back and forth and tried to wrap her mind around his logic that seemed so completely counterintuitive.

"… So, you're saying you're scared too?" she asked after a second.

"Basically terrified…" he agreed seriously. "I mean not enough to not give it a shot….." he added immediately back to his carefree-self and Claire reached her free hand over to slapped at his shoulder in response.

"What? You're not up for giving it a go right here on the pavement? But this moment is so hot, how can you resist it?" He teased as he ran a thumb under her eye where she knew she had cried a mess of her dark brown eye makeup she had applied so carefully that morning.

"Shut up." She said, slapping at him again.

Quil chuckled and used the hand he had on her face to wrap around the back of her head and pulled her towards him as he leaned over and kissed the top of her hair.

"I love you, Nino." He said in contentment as he leaned back against the car and gave her waist a small squeeze.

Claire groaned in response, "We talked about this, Quilliam."

"Right. Right sorry. I love you, Baby." He corrected.

"I love you too, Baby." Claire answered as the stared out at the damp empty street in front of them. It was overcast but she was grateful it wasn't raining down on them and that the temperature was comfortably in the fifties.

Quil chuckled a little darkly and then said randomly, "I thought for sure you were going to breakup with me. Scared the shit out of me."

Claire looked over at him in surprise, "Breakup with you over Bianca Sanchez?" Just saying it out loud sounded completely ridiculous.

"No, before that! I was chewing into you about that stupid bet that wasn't even your fault and you were all stoically taking it and staring out the window and then all of sudden you just braced yourself and turned around like you had something you were going to say, and I thought for sure that was it. Seriously, even without your cute little speech I would have forgiven you just out of relief that you weren't dumping my ass."

"Quil!" she huffed with a laugh as she leaned over and smacked her shoulder against his.

He just shrugged unapologetically in response.

"That's stupid. You know I wouldn't do that." She said seriously.

"Well I do now." He said easily while resting his head back against the car.

"What does that mean?" She asked in confusion.

"It means if you weren't willing to dump me after that incredibly uncomfortable conversation about Bianca and my other sexual conquests then nothing I can do at this point will shake you." He replied cockily.

Claire stared forward as her brows pinched together and her lips scrunched to the side.

"Yeah, I guess that's true. At this point the only way for you to get rid of me is to walk away." She muttered reasonably.

Quil chuckled in response and Claire immediately flipped her head to give him a dark look.

"I'm not going anywhere either, Claire. You know that." He said easily.

"Fine. But you don't have to act like I'm the only one invested here, alright?" she said only a little defensively.

"Alright. Officially, I'm invested. Happy?" he said in faux-seriousness.

Claire just rolled her eyes at him as she turned back to watch as a car drove past, kicking up a small amount of spray off the asphalt as it went.

"Well at least since prom is this weekend I won't have to go back to school until it's already over." Claire mused out loud.

"Wait… How long are you suspended for?" Quil asked surprised.

"The rest of the week. It was all in the papers they had you sign." She replied as she looked back over at him.

"Yeah," he mused as scrunched his face together in an unconcerned expression and slowly tilted his head from side to side. "I didn't read any of that. I was way more concerned with getting my ass out of there as fast as humanly possible."

Claire laughed thinking back on the situation with Bianca from a new light and suddenly seeing the humor in it, especially with Quil talking about how uncomfortable it made him.

"You mean as fast as wolfishly possible?" she teased.

"If phasing was my only way out of there I'd have stripped down in less than a second flat." He said seriously, making Claire laugh again.

"Bianca would have loved that actually. 'Oh Quil, you look so good! Your tattoo is so sexy.'" Claire teased, mimicking Bianca by bringing her voice down an octave and speaking in a throaty, breezy voice.

"What?" Claire asked when Quil didn't respond other than to stare at her looking impressed.

"Sorry, do you think you could say that in that voice again? Only," he stopped to look around themselves first, "Let's get you back to my bedroom first and then you can see how fast I can really strip down!"

Claire rolled her eyes, "Oh are you gonna phase there too?" she said sarcastically.

"Oh, I'm definitely not gonna be phasing." He replied as he leaned towards her looking a little predatory. "All though that did get my heart pumping enough to be a wolf right now."

Claire just chuckled as he reached over to combine their hands again before he squeezed her waist with the arm still wrapped around her as he dragged her closer to him making her butt scoot a few inches across the pavement.

"Alright, are you ready to get out of here yet? Let's go home finally." She replied after she obligingly leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Definitely! I'm not even sure why the crap we are even on the ground out here." Quil replied confidently.

Claire just rolled her eyes again as she chuckled at his antics and forced herself up into a standing position, causing Quil to drop his hold on her. He extended a hand out to her like he wanted her to lift him off the pavement.

She tried to cooperate as she grabbed his hand and then pulled back with all of her weight as she yanked up against him as hard as she could. She groaned but didn't make any progress at all as he stayed firmly planted on the road until he put his free hand against the ground and shoved himself up next to her.

"Wow. That was like pathetically sad, Claire…. I'm almost concerned… do you think your arm is still not healed?" he said like he was being serious.

She shoved at him in response as she said, "Seriously? You're ridiculously massive, Quil."

"Ridiculously, huh?" he asked as he opened the car door for her.

"Yes. Ridiculously." She answered certainly as she slid into the car after brushing off the butt of her now wet jeans.

"Hmm, because I think you _like_ my ridiculously massive muscles…" he said as he leaned over the car door in front of her, resting his arms against the top of it and placing his chin on top of them like he was getting comfortable as he looked down at her in the car.

"Actually, I think it's your head that's so massive." She answered as she grabbed the side door and started trying to pull it out from under him. "Don't even say it!" she immediately muttered as he started opening his mouth and she could already sense his smartass comment.

Quil smirked at her, clearly amused, "How do you know what I was about to say?"

"Um because I've known you basically my entire life."

"Yeah? So, what was I going to say?"

Claire rolled her eyes, "Are you gonna get in the car ever or did you just want me to drive?"

"Because I was just gonna say how my most massive organ is actually-"

"Quil….!" Claire cut him off, exasperated as she shook her head and then quickly heaved herself over the console under the pretext that she was going to drive but really just wanting to put some space between them.

"….is my heart! What on earth did you think I was going to say!?" Quil laughed as he slid into the seat she had just vacated and shut the door behind him.

"Oh! Is _that_ what you were going to say!?" Claire asked pretending to humor him.

"Yes! What were you thinking!? Oh! Not… wow, Claire…. That's really inappropriate… You have a dirty mind." He said seriously as Claire stepped on the brake and started the car.

"Wow… imagine I thought that…. That must be all _my_ fault… you weren't insinuating that _at all_." She mused back as she checked the blind spot over her shoulder behind his side and then pulled the car back out onto the road.

"It must be. I would never say something so vulgar… Especially in front of a young, impressionable woman like yourself." He continued.

"Right, of course. My bad. Please forgive me and _my_ dirty mind." She offered without looking at him as she continued down the last block to the shop.

"Well…. Alright, I guess since you apologized I can be allowed to forgive you…" he pretended to muse.

"I didn't apologize." She replied certainly as they pulled up.

"You didn't?" he asked confused.

"No, I asked you to forgive me."

"Oh well same difference. Either way, I guess my massive heart is big enough to forgive and forgot your truly unlady-like ways."

"Oh my…. You're worse than those boys at my school."

As soon as she said it she released how much worse it sounded than she'd meant it. She hadn't been thinking about the bet at all and her heart almost stopped in fear that he would be upset by the reminder of the boys at her school, but gratefully he just laughed at her as she turned the car off and they both got out.

Claire spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon just hanging out in the shop with Quil and Butch. She would sit off to the side snuggled up with Butch next to her lap while Quil worked on the ridiculous car on the lift. Sometimes they would talk to each other. Sometimes it was silent except for the playlist of classic eighties rock he kept playing in the background while he focused on his work and she would scroll through the feeds on her phone. Occasionally he would ask her to hand him a tool and she would get up to get it for him. She had spent so many years of her life spending time with Quil in his shop that she knew all the names to every one of his tools, which she considered a pretty impressive feat for a girl her age whose main focus was usually cheerleading. She could locate a 5/8ths wrench in a messy pile of tools in about four seconds flat.

Around 1:30, Claire used Quil's phone to order lunch for them since neither of them had really eaten anything all day. She didn't think anything of ordering Chinese food until thirty minutes later when the delivery guy pulled up in front of the shop and then walked in through the open garage door that Claire had been distractedly watching the rain out of.

"Hey, Quil. Long time no see." The guy greeted him easily, and Claire looked over at the sound of his entrance. She immediately started blushing when she realized it was the same delivery guy who she had met in less than ideal circumstances months ago before she and Quil were even dating. "Ooh and Tuesday girl! Wasn't expecting to see you here on a Wednesday and everything…"

Quil stood up from under the hood of the car. "Actually, Tuesday girl has a name and it's definitely not that. What are you doing here anyways, Kyle?" he responded in an all business tone.

Kyle shifted the box of food in his hand. "Delivering your food, obviously." He said undeterred. "So, Not-so-Tuesday girl, what _is_ your name?" he continued speaking directly to Claire.

"Claire." She answered simply, not wanting to engage with him. After the last couple months she'd had of fluctuating degrees of harassment, except for Bennett and Quil, she didn't really want to interact with any guys _ever_.

"Claire." He repeated sounding impressed as he stood unnecessarily close to where she was sitting on a stool to place the box of food on the workbench. "I'm Kyle."

He extended his hand across himself to reach out toward her. She graciously took his hand and shook it only out of extreme politeness. She wished he would just stick with talking to Quil and pretending she wasn't there.

She didn't respond to him other than to offer a polite but disinterested smile at his introduction. She dropped his hand and he stood next to her for a second looking expectantly at her before he turned around to face the same direction she was as he placed his hands on the work bench and leaned back against it supporting his weight on either side of himself with the wrist of his left arm left only maybe an inch from her right shoulder.

"So, color me impressed if you've made it past a single day of the week." He said casually as if he had the whole day to spend hanging out.

Claire looked from him to Quil, giving him a look of complete disbelieve. Quil rolled his eyes in annoyance as he grabbed the rag out of his back pocket and started scrubbing away at the grease on his hands like he couldn't be bothered to intervene. Maybe once a day was his quota for dealing with douchey guys who bothered her.

"Um… I'm his girlfriend." Claire responded.

When Kyle made an impressed noise in his throat she looked over at him.

"Wow, I've never known Quil to actually commit to a single girl but for you I can see why he'd make the exception." He said smoothly.

 _Who the hell does this guy think he is!?_ Claire thought angrily as she gave him a look of disgusted disbelieve.

She decided to pretend to play it friendly since she had already been suspended today for physically assaulting someone.

"I'm sorry …I can't tell if you're hitting on me or just calling me easy?" she said in an unconcerned voice.

"Whoa, okay." Quil spoke before Kyle could, obviously stepping in to intervene. "Yes, Kyle, Claire is my girlfriend, and I've already broken one finger and a jaw on two separate guys today who also misinterpreted the nature of our relationship, so I'd suggest giving her some space." he said seriously.

Kyle immediately threw his hands up in the air and took a few steps back away from her.

"You didn't mention that I broke Charlie's nose before you ever broke his finger." She said dryly, picking up her phone and unlocking it instead of looking back at Kyle.

"It's true." He assured Kyle, "She can do plenty of damage all on her own, so I'd suggest you think carefully about the nature of your comments next time."

Claire didn't look to see how Kyle reacted, but he didn't say anything, and she didn't look back up until Quil spoke to her, "Do I need to pay him?"

"No, I paid over the app." She answered looking only at him.

"Did you tip?"

"Twenty percent." She said before looking back at her phone.

"Alright, well until next time, Kyle." He said dismissively.

"Yeah see you, Quil." He replied as he headed back to his car without addressing Claire again but that was exactly what she'd prefer.

Before Kyle could even pull out of the drive Quil was coming over to dive into the food, seeming completely undisturbed by the interaction. He soothingly set a container of Lo Mein and one of Pot Stickers in front of Claire. She sighed before she set aside her phone and picked up the containers and then chopsticks he was handing to her.

"Are all guys just complete _douchebags_?" she asked rhetorically after a moment of eating in silence.

"It'd appear so." He answered easily.

"Ugh." Claire groaned. "At least I'm already done dating…. I do not think I could handle ten to fifteen more years of sorting through duds to try to find a good one."

Quil immediately started laughing as he wrapped an arm around her.

"Well does that mean you'd possibly consider moving in with me? Since we're so serious and for lifers and all…"

"I thought we already talked about why that couldn't work." Claire said in surprise.

Quil just shrugged his shoulder before dropping his arm so that he could take a bite and then speaking around his food, "I thought you just didn't want to move in because of the sexual implications but I figured since you seem a lot more comfortable in the place we're at with that then maybe you'd reconsider."

"I mean if it was just that, yeah I'd have no problem moving in, but my age is a pretty huge factor too you know… besides my parents would never go for it." She answered while still watching him instead of her food. She knew he was serious about his suggestion, but she was trying to gauge how much he'd actually thought about it or if he was just saying it as he thought through it for the first time again.

"True…. But…" he replied cryptically.

"But?" she asked confused when he didn't continue.

He looked like he was about to say something but then changed his mind and shook his head, "Never mind, I should get back to work."

He quickly set down his one container of food he'd barely had time to devour and moved like he was about to head back to the car.

"Wait! You've barely eaten. And what were you going to say?" Claire asked reaching a hand out to grab his arm and stop him.

He stopped trying to move away and leaned back against the bench before he picked up another carton out of the box.

"Nothing, Claire. It's no big deal." He said casually while looking into the carton.

"No, what is it? I want to know what you were going to say." She said enticingly as she reached out initially to poke his side but changed her mind halfway there and ultimately ended up with her hand just resting casually against his chest.

He looked up at her and stared deep into her eyes for a second before he opened his mouth and started to say something but then stopped and looked away again.

"What!?" Claire laughed. He was never usually so cryptic, and it was entertaining to watch him struggle when he was usually so confident.

"I was just going to say that we could always just get married but then I thought better of it." He admitted casually with a shrug as though he had just admitted he preferred cabbaged to all other leafy greens.

"What?" Claire asked confused as her head spun around what he just said. "Get married? What do you mean? Like get married NOW?"

"Yeah." He said easily with another shrug like it was no big deal. "That way we wouldn't have to stress about it being a big thing for you to move in with me and plus we could wait to have sex and you'd be married a virgin… that's pretty cool." he said reasonably while Claire's head felt like it was about to explode. _He wants to get married NOW?_

"Wait… how would that even work? I'm only sixteen, Quil." She said trying to mimic his reasonable tone instead of sounding completely shocked and flustered like she felt.

"You'd need a parent to sign a consent form but after that it's really simple." He assured her.

"Wait… What?" she said putting a heavy emphasis on the T and needing a whole lot more clarification about the information he was so casually spewing out.

"I looked into it." He admitted with another shrug, this time only marginally less casually like he knew how weird it was to admit but still didn't care.

"You looked into it?" Claire asked suddenly feeling concerned. "Why?... I mean are you not happy with where we're at? Is this about sex or something? … I thought you were okay taking it slowly…." She stopped talking when she realized she was spiraling.

"NO! Nothing like that! I _am_ happy, and this is why I knew it was a bad idea to say anything because I knew you weren't ready and talking about it would just freak you out. Claire, I am happy, incredibly happy. It's not about sex or pushing you into anything…" he stopped just long enough to wrap his arms around her and pull her close so that her knees were against his stomach and they could still look at each other. "I just love you a ridiculously huge amount… it's almost unhealthy how much I love you… basically completely obsessed and the sooner that I can make this a permanent commitment the better. Something Jake said to me when he was here just seemed to stick with me and I guess I just keep thinking about it all these months later."

"What'd he say?" she asked deciding to focus on her curiosity over that part rather than trying to deny that she had obviously been as freaked out as he had predicted.

"He said something about how now that I'm in my thirties wasn't I ready to move on to the next phase of my life… you know, get married, have kids… get a dog," he gestured casually over at Butch like evidence, "buy a house… you know all that shi-…stuff -sorry babe… and at first I thought he was crazy… I'd never felt the need to do all that, but now…. I don't know… lately it seems like all I can think about is starting my life with you."

Claire put her face in her hands as she tried to breath. Part of her felt the sincerity of his words and loved the beautiful picture he was painting. It was an amazing life and she wanted that with him too, but the bigger part of her was completely freaking out at what he was saying. It was precisely _because_ he had never wanted all of those things he had just mentioned and that he had just been comfortable with where he was in life that she had always assumed he'd be fine starting the journey of a long-term relationship where they would have to wait for her to age up a bit before any sort of permanent commitments were made… like Brady and Sofia. They had waited two years to even start dating and then dated for three years before they got engaged when she was twenty…

Claire pulled back her hands to look at him before she spoke since she didn't want to seem like she thought he was being ridiculous.

"So… you like want to get married right now and start having kids or something?" she said it as reasonably as she could even though she could hear the slight skepticism in her voice.

"No… well yes…. Look I'm not trying to propose here, Claire. I'm just trying to have a conversation where I tell you that I do want to marry you. Whether tomorrow or in five years. I'll wait as long as you need to be ready, but I also want there to be zero confusion when I say I am ready to get married and I think about being married to you all the time." He said intensely as he looked down at her and she placed her hands on his chest in response to the love clearly emanate in his voice.

 _Maybe I could do this…._ She thought reasonably. _Being married to Quil is the dream, right? So who cares if I get married at_ (mental gulp) _sixteen….. ugh…._ She shivered just a little at the thought.

She took a deep breath and then looked up at him as she honestly considered it and asked reasonably, "So how would that work exactly? We would get married this summer and then I'd go back in the fall and finish my last two years of high school? Get knocked up a year after we get married and graduate barefoot and pregnant?" she was honestly trying to ask even though the skepticism was obvious.

Quil chuckled in response and she looked up at him with a scrunched-up brow until he explained.

"Actually, I was thinking… okay and don't freak out here, just honestly try and consider it, alright?" he said warningly.

Claire gave him a disbelieving look as she thought what more he could possibly have to say that would make her freak out even more. _It better not be something about getting pregnant with triplets to make up for all of his lost time he's spent waiting for me!_

"I did some looking around and… well if we got married this summer I was thinking you would have to agree to switching to online homeschooling where you could take extra credits and graduate a year early." He admitted quickly.

 _And there it is….. he wants me to drop out….._

"Quil!" Claire immediately said in frustration. "We've already talked about this! _Fought_ about this actually! Are you seriously asking me to drop out right now so that I can marry you and finish school at home literally barefoot in the kitchen!?"

"Okay, it's really not that dramatic! Calm down." He said reasonably though she wanted to bite his finger off when he told her to calm down. "I was just thinking that if you do school online then we can take the next year just the two of us and we can travel. You could finish school from anywhere in the world and we could go to France to spend Christmas with Jake and Renesmee and then never come back, we could just keep touring through Europe and then move on to Asia…."

Claire felt like her head was spinning again from how much he had obviously thought about this. He was clearly excited about the prospect, but she felt like she couldn't catch up with him, even as appealing as traveling the world with him sounded.

She shook her head quickly to try to help clear it and catch up faster. "But... don't you have to work? And what about Butch? What would we do with him?" she asked confused.

"No, not really. After I finish this restoration" he gestured toward the car behind them on the far side of the garage just past the DeLorean-looking car. "I'll have enough saved from that plus that last one to definitely keep us afloat for at least a year. And we can just take Butch with us."

Claire's head was literally spinning. She was sitting on the stool in front of him with Quil's arms around her, but she felt like she had no bearings at all anymore. What was he saying? Was he seriously asking if she'd consider it or was he just speculating on how great it would all be?

"Whoa." She muttered as she placed her palm to her forehead. What he was proposing all sounded amazing… but also _so_ overwhelming. She was vaguely aware that she knew they use to eat dogs in parts of Asia and was suddenly wondering if it'd be safe to take Butch with them when she realized that was literally the last thing she needed to be concerned about with this possible scenario.

Quil continued on before she had nearly enough time to process all of her complicated emotions his suggestions were bringing up.

"…Then we could come back by next fall and figure out where you want to go to college. If you want to stay close, then we can find a house around here or if you want to go to Seattle we could find at least a condo or townhouse to live in until you finish school. Of course, if you wanted to go to school somewhere out of state we would probably need to be back in the States by next summer so that we could look for a place to live wherever you wanted to go…" he said quickly.

"Okay, whoa, just slow down Quil! This is a lot. Like I mean _a LOT_! The last time we even talked about this we said we weren't going to get married until I was at least eighteen and graduated from high school and now you have a whole life plan that involves us getting married in like what?... Less than two months?... and me leaving my school and buying houses and a whole lot of everything else that is seriously coming out of left field so can you just _SLOW DOWN_ for a second!?" she said frantically.

Quil quickly dropped his hands from around her to obviously give her some space to breath as he ran a hand through his hair and said, "Crap. You're completely freaking out, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not freaking out! Can I just have like five seconds before you ask me what our wedding song should be or what I want to name our first child!" she snapped immediately.

He gave her a skeptical look before saying, "Claire, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to put too much on you too quickly. I knew it was a bad idea to talk about it."

"I'm not freaking out! I can handle having an adult conversation about our future without totally freaking out!" She insisted because she did not want to continue to be seen as the adolescent in their relationship especially while he was making plans with her in his head as if they were on even footing, before muttering, "Even if it is the _very_ near future!"

Quil pressed his lips together as he turned to look to the side instead of at her and she could tell he was trying not to smile. "Of course, Claire. But that doesn't mean you're ready for all that stuff I just said, right?"

Claire forced herself to take a deep breath for the first time and honestly considered if she was ready for what he had been suggesting.

"Right." She finally said reasonably.

"Okay, so I'll drop it, alright? Consider it officially tabled for now." He said confidently, and Claire just nodded her head gratefully in response.

Quil kissed her forehead quickly before pushing away from her and heading back towards the car he was supposed to be working on. He paused only a few feet away and came back towards her as he reached out to grab her hand.

"Just….. Promise me you'll think about it, okay?"

"Of course." She answered immediately. Didn't he know that now that that cat was out of the bag there was no way she wouldn't be _constantly_ thinking about everything he had in mind for them.

"Thank you." He said sincerely as he lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm lovingly just as they were interrupted.

"Hey! What the hell happened at school!? The whole school is blowing up about what Quil did to Coach and Charlie!"

They both looked up at the same time to see Rachel was the one that had spoken as she walked in through the garage door with Travis right behind her. His car was parked in the drive and they had been so caught up in their conversation they somehow hadn't noticed when they had pulled up separately.

"Um….. I may have gotten suspended for breaking Charlie's nose after he asked me to prom for the seventeenth time in a row and I had to call Quil to come pick me up since he's conveniently over twenty-one… … _and_ then when he was there he happened to take care of the bet and make sure that no one will ever bother me again." Claire explained quickly and casually.

"I'll say." Travis nodded in agreement while looking appreciatively over at Quil. "They called an ambulance to take Coach Dooger to the emergency room since he couldn't stop crying long enough to drive."

Quil just rolled his eyes in response as Rachel laughed at the obvious memory of the coach being wheeled away into an ambulance.

"Is it true you took all the cash from the bet too?" Rachel asked him.

"Yeah, of course. What else was I going to do, give it back to all the little assholes?" he replied easily as he picked his wrench back up off the bench and moved back towards the car he was working on.

"So, you got it all? How much is it?" she asked Claire.

"I have no idea. And I'm not going to keep it. I don't want any of it!" She replied immediately.

Rachel gave her a disbelieving look and then said, "Oh come on, Claire, you've got to keep it! After what they did to you they should all be charged whatever they put in just for participating."

"Mmhmm." Quil groaned his agreement from under the hood of the car.

"Honestly it makes me feel super prostitutish to keep it… I think I'm just going to donate the whole thing to charity." Claire insisted but before she could even finish Rachel gave a dramatic gasp and said,

"I have the best idea! I know exactly what to do with it!"

"What?" Travis and Quil asked at the same time both obviously curious about it.

"Come shopping with me this afternoon, Claire. I have the perfect thing in mind to rub their faces in all of it." Rachel said without acknowledging Quil or Travis.

Claire looked at Quil as she thought it over. She really didn't want to have the money or buy anything with it since whatever she bought would forever feel tainted but on the other hand she didn't want to pass up the opportunity to have a bonding experience with Rachel on one of her last few days of her senior year of high school. She would be moving out to start the summer semester with Travis at the University of Washington in just a few short weeks.

Quil shrugged as she made eye contact with him.

"You might as well go shopping with her. I have to keep working on this all afternoon, I promised the guy I'd finish it by tonight." He said reasonably to her from across the room where he still stood in front of the car.

"Come on, Claire. I have to pick up my accessories for prom and you can help me pick them out! I'll even let you pay for them with all that blood money!" Rachel said enticingly.

Claire bit her lip as she thought about it. If the money didn't belong to her then she had no idea who it did belong to unless she returned it to every jerk of a jock football player who had asked her to prom to try to get in her pants for profit.

"Alright." She agreed as she stood up and picked her bag up off the floor.

"Sweet! Let's go! I want to go to that mall in Kingston and we've got to get going since it'll be at least an hour of driving each way." Rachel said excitedly.

Claire smiled at her enthusiasm as she patted Butch goodbye and then made her way to Quil who took a step forward to meet her. She reached up and kissed his cheek quickly as he placed his hands on both of her arms.

"I'll see you tonight?" she asked meaningfully as she spoke low, so they wouldn't be overhead by Rachel and Trav making their way to their cars together.

"Yeah, of course. I don't have patrol, so I'll sneak in around eleven thirty just don't forget to make sure your window's unlocked." He replied with a brow raised accusingly.

"That only happened one time!" she insisted with a teasing smile as she backed away from him, but he pulled her back and kissed her lips softly for a second, clearly less than pleased with her kiss on his cheek.

"Bye, have fun." He said cheerfully as he let her go and backed away to bend under the hood again.

"Bye! Love you!" she called behind her as she ran to catch up to an impatient Rachel who was waiting in the rain next to the Jetta she had parked behind Travis, blocking him in.

She couldn't hear Quil's reciprocation as she ran through the rain, but she knew he called it back.

The drive to Kingston passed quickly while Rachel immediately pressed Claire for details of what had happened at school and they discussed the events of Claire's day. Claire surprised herself by describing to Rachel about Bianca Sanchez and how she had been blatantly hitting on Quil. She discussed everything that she knew about what had happened in the men's locker room. But anything that she and Quil had discussed after they had left the school had felt private and personal between the two of them and it wasn't stuff that Claire wanted to share with other people, even her sister.

They were still discussing how Claire had broken Charlie's nose when Rachel dragged her into the Coach section of the Macy's they were in the second they got to the mall. The conversation stopped as Rachel gestured dramatically at the patented leather in front of them and said,

"Ta da!"

"Um… I don't get it." Claire admitted.

"This is what you are going to use the money for!" she explained excitedly. "You're going to buy a ridiculously expensive and ridiculously beautiful bag and then every day when all those posers see you walking down the hall they can see exactly what their money went to!"

It wasn't until Rachel explained it that Claire realized the few bags in front of them Rachel was pointing at were backpacks.

"Rachel…. I love that! Let's do it!" Claire surprised them both by saying.

She wasn't usually the vindictive type, but she loved the idea of having a ridiculously gorgeous bag that she would never own otherwise and could use just to show all those boys they hadn't gotten to her.

"I know, right!? Now let's hurry because we still need to check out Prada and Dooney and Bourke and I need to do my own shopping too!" she said quickly as they started running their fingers across the supple leather of a bag in front of them.

They never made it past Coach though once Claire found a backpack that was technically marketed as a man's bag but was so beautiful she knew it had to be the one. The brown patented leather was incredibly soft and closed in a clasp and had a zipper pocket in the front and against the side. It was the perfect size to carry everything Claire would need, including her laptop while still being small and contained. It only took a small amount of Rachel's convincing before Claire pulled the jar out of her bag and counted out the seven hundred dollars to pay the annoyed sales girl who was suddenly more than a little surprised at the commission she would be receiving from them.

After that Claire bought Rachel a slightly overpriced Kate Spade clutch and then a pair of eccentric earrings from a small boutique for her to take to prom. They had dinner in the food court where Claire pulled out sixty dollars in cash and shoved it in her wallet to pay for gas on the way back before she took the rest of the jar that was still more than halfway full and dumped the entire thing in a coin collecting box at the counter of the McDonalds, giving all of it to the Ronald McDonald Foundation.

As she made her way back to her seat in the food court with the now empty jar in her hand she caught Rachel watching her.

"Did you ever count how much was in there?" she asked Claire as she got close enough to hear her over the noise of the large mall.

"No. I really didn't want to know." Claire said sincerely as she sat down and then patted the Coach shopping bag she had made Rachel promise to guard with her life. It was stuffed tight with a box that contained her backpack wrapped in a fleece bag because it was so expensive of a bag it required its own travel system.

"There had to be at least two thousand dollars in there." Rachel mused.

"Oh at least." Claire replied thinking of how full the jar had still been before she shoved all the cash in small handfuls in the slot of the donation box.

"Well that's going to a good cause at least, right?" Rachel said sounding optimistic.

"Definitely." Claire replied confidently. It was obvious that neither of them had any regrets about their spontaneous afternoon shopping spree.

"You ready to go?" Rachel asked as she started to gather her trash and tray.

"Yeah, let's go home." She responded, already counting how many hours were left in the day until she could cuddle up in bed and fall asleep in Quil's warm arms.

* * *

 ***Whoa! First off, I feel like I need to take a breath after all that! This chapter felt like three chapters worth of material somehow all merged together to become the beast that was this one!**

 **Thank you so much for all of the reviews on the last chapter! I really needed that extra boost of lovin' and it was the reason I forced the edit on this chapter out as quickly as I could because it had a lot of work left on it! Plus, I couldn't leave you all hanging after that last chapter! I seriously love Quil and Claire's relationship, they are for reals cute together or is it just me? I really wanna hear reactions to EVERYTHING that happened this chapter so please please please keep the comments coming! What did you think of their problem solving in regards to Claire not telling Quil about the bet? about Bianca Sanchez and about Quil's sexual history? and of course... about Quil wanting to get married? I can't wait to hear! K, you are awesome and I hope y'all have a great week! more soon, I promise! I love where the story is at and where it's headed so I'm going to try to keep this momentum going and get the next chapter out sooner than later!**

 **xoxo**

 **Jess**


	23. Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

 **Quil:**

"So, Baby, what are you doing tomorrow night?" Quil asked easily in greeting the second Claire answered her phone.

"Well hello to you too!" She laughed from over the line. "I'm just helping Rach get ready for prom but they're leaving for dinner at 5:30 so I'll be free after that. Why?"

"Because I want to take you out to dinner that's why." He answered praying that she wouldn't think there was anything unusual about that.

"Oooh to dinner huh?" She replied sounding almost suspicious.

"Yup, tomorrow, so keep your schedule clear." He replied casually since she was obviously already picking up on the unusual aspect of the conversation.

"What's the occasion? You aren't trying to sneak me into prom or something are you?"

Quil actually snorted in response to that.

"No, Claire. I was fortunate enough to get out of having to go to my own prom by inadvertently turning into a giant wolf and there is no way I'm _trying_ to intentionally sneak myself into yours…"

"It's not my prom, I'm only a sophomore." She replied unconcerned. "My prom isn't for another year, and then my senior prom is the year after that…. I still have two ahead of me. So, what are you going to do _then_?"

"Are you saying you want me to take you to your prom next year?" Quil asked surprised as he grabbed the socket of a wrench and flipped the handle around absentmindedly since he was more focused on the conversation then the tool in his hand.

"No. You couldn't even if you wanted to." She assured him, unconcerned.

"Wait… How come?" He replied, surprised and cautiously curious.

"They have an age cut off. You can't bring a date over twenty-three. They even check ID's at the door."

"… I could pass for twenty-three…." He mused.

"That's okay, I know you don't want to go anyways…." Claire replied and Quil blew out a relieved breath even though he was internally kicking himself for being the reason she missed a part of the high school experience. "… I'll just go with someone else." She finished easily, sounding completely unconcerned.

Quil dropped the wrench he was playing with in as her words settled over him and Claire laughed when she heard the clatter it made as it hit the cement floor of the shop.

"I'm just kidding, Quil! Even if I wasn't dating _you_ do you seriously think there is any chance I'd ever go out with _any_ boy from my school?"

Quil blew out a sigh of relieve and Claire laughed again even harder this time while he tried to restore his heart to a normal rhythm. For a second there he'd really thought she'd already found another date for her prom... or was at least considering doing it.

"So, what _is_ the occasion?"

"What do you mean?" He asked confused as he bent to retrieve the wrench and started playing with it again.

"We got sidetracked talking about prom but why are we going to dinner again?" She explained.

"There needs to be a reason for us to go to dinner?" He asked feigning surprise but really knowing all along that this reaction from her was to be expected.

"…..So, there's no reason?" She asked also sounding surprised but sincerely so.

"For me to ask you to dinner? No. You're just my girlfriend and I want to go out with you that's the reason." He answered confidently while still kicking himself that it had taken him so long to do this.

"Like a date?" She asked.

"Exactly like a date." He replied.

"Have we ever done that before?" She asked sounding a little nervous.

"I guess not effectively enough if you have to ask." He replied while thinking how he seriously needed to up his game if his girlfriend didn't know what to think any time he asked her to go out. He knew he had dropped the ball, but he had at least hoped that she wouldn't be completely unprepared for it when he finally asked her.

"Okay!" She said sounding a little excited. "So, where are you taking me?"

"I was thinking maybe that steakhouse in Treeport."

He figured he at least owed her steak seeing as they'd been officially dating for over four months.

"I like steak." She mused reasonably.

Quil laughed in response. "I know you do."

"Okay! So, you're taking me to dinner!" She agreed excitedly.

"Yes, I am." He replied with a smile in his voice. "But I'll still get to see you before that too, right?"

He suddenly felt concerned that she'd expect him to wait to see her until then. He had spent almost all of the last two days she was out of school (because of her suspension) with her and had gotten used to enjoying her constant presence. The only reason he was able to call her now instead of actually being with her in person was because he had just gotten off of a day patrol with Brady. It wasn't until he caught on to Brady's thought about where he should take out Sofia over the weekend that Quil suddenly had the realization that he had never actually taken Claire out. Clearly, he was a giant failure in the having-a-girlfriend department….

"I certainly hope so. Otherwise how am I supposed to fall asleep tonight if you aren't there?"

Quil laughed in response before hanging up so that he could finish working before he could finally come over to secretly sleep in her bed with her.

.

The next day Quil's pulse was beating surprising quickly in response to his date with Claire, he just didn't know if it stemmed from excitement or anxiety... He was hoping it was excitement. At his age he shouldn't have been feeling anxiety about taking a woman to dinner…. Especially if that woman was Claire…. And they'd gone out to dinner hundreds of times before….and had already been in an established relationship for months…. It was ridiculous, but he kept having a fear of rejection he didn't know where to place but he decided to just go ahead and blame his mother for that one.

He was just finishing buttoning his dress shirt and rolling up the sleeves past his elbows so that he wouldn't feel quite so overheated like he always did in anything other than shirtless attire when Claire pushed the door opened behind him while softly knocking on it.

"Wow look at you!" She said excitedly overtop of Butch who was licking at her thighs in excitement. "You look so good!"

Quil smiled over at her in amusement. "This is not that unusual for me." He replied as he looked down at himself in his navy dress shirt and dark jeans after taking a swift but appreciative glance at her apparel.

Claire completely ignored his comment and gasped drastically.

"Are you wearing dress shoes!?" She asked excitedly.

He rolled his eyes as he started to make his way to her from around Butch. He suddenly didn't feel so nervous anymore. Not with Claire there in front of him…. Though his heart certainly hadn't slowed it's pace since he'd got a look at her.

"I can't remember the last time I saw you wear dress shoes!" She exclaimed.

"Well for you I wore dress shoes." He said simply.

Her only response was to a beam a smile up at him that sent his heart pumping even harder.

"…Besides, why are we talking about what _I'm_ wearing? Look at you, you're beautiful." He said sincerely as he looked her over for the third time since she'd come in while he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him ignoring Butch as he sandwiched himself between them.

Claire wrinkled her nose up at him in response.

"What?" He asked in confusion to her displeased reaction.

"Now I'm just feeling too casual compared to you." She explained as she gestured down toward the sundress she was wearing.

"I don't think you are." He said sincerely as he slid a finger under the black lace of her bra coming out from under her spaghetti strapped dress and forming into a razorback behind her neck. "Is this new?" He asked, not sure if he meant the dress or the bra.

"Yeah." She admitted causally with a little twist of the short flowy skirt, causing it to come up slightly and emphasize her long tan legs. "But you're wearing dress shoes so…"

Quil rolled his eyes again before leaning in close enough that he could smell the perfume on her that she only wore on special occasions. He loved it. It made him want to lick it off her skin. He was sure the perfume wouldn't taste nearly as good as it smelled but the idea of licking her skin had appeal for other reasons.

He immediately had to try to force himself to focus to get his mind back on the conversation and not on licking Claire's skin that was just slightly more exposed than usual in her casual dress.

" _Yeah_ , but you're wearing a little black dress…" he whispered meaningfully to her with his face only inches above hers.

She broke the intensity of the moment by laughing.

"I don't think this technically counts as a 'little black dress'." She laughed as she touched the tiny white floral print that was so intricate it made the dress look gray from a distance.

"I don't know about that." He replied confidently as he pinched the fabric of it over her hip. He himself had been the intended target of more than a few 'little black dresses' over the years and he could say from experience that this casual dress was definitely working in Claire's favor better than any dress on any woman he had ever seen before.

He felt Claire shiver slightly in response and sigh out a breath between her slightly parted lips before she stepped into him forcing Butch out from between them so that she could be closer as she touched his chest. Quil felt her hands tremble slightly as she rested them against him. He reached out and touched the side of her arm and immediately noticed the strong goosebumps covering her entire skin. She sighed again when he touched her, and he quickly reached his hand that was on her hip around to her lower back and used it to press her body across the inch of space between them until the gap closed completely.

She had her eyes closed, biting her lip with her face turned to the side away from him like she was just overwhelmed with the feel of him. Quil smiled to himself as he leaned his face down into her neck until his nose was directly against the skin between her neck and shoulder and he could inhale another whiff of her perfume. It made his stomach clench and he pulled her slightly upwards so that she was on her toes and pressed up to his chest and her limp hands moved to his biceps as he felt her give into him completely. She was so limp against him he figured she'd fall to the floor if he let go of her.

And with that encouragement from her he finally allowed himself to start tasting her skin against her shoulder as he kissed his way slowly up her neck, taking his time to get to the spot behind her ear that he knew drove her crazy.

Quil could feel her response to him with her pressed against him. She was completely pushed up against his chest and he felt her entire body tense and quiver as he kissed slowly, inch by inch, up her skin towards her neck. He loved knowing he had the ability to make her feel things that caused her to react this way.

He was only an inch away from his intended destination behind her ear when she gave a small shake against him.

"Quil?" She croaked in a shaky voice.

He paused slightly against her in response as he waited to hear what she had to say before he continued.

"I think… if you don't stop now there's no way I'll be able to make it to dinner." She admitted in a sigh while still crushed up against him.

Quil chuckled a little darkly to himself as he pulled back just enough so that his nose was now pressed against her skin instead of his mouth. "Yeah, but now the problem is I'm not convinced I want to go out when I already have you here all to myself."

She pulled back from him to land on her heels and he lifted his head slightly so that he could look at her in surprise. She still had her hands lightly pressed to his arms, but he hadn't been expecting her to pull away.

"… You don't want to go to dinner?" She asked seriously, and for some reason he couldn't understand the meaning behind her question. He couldn't read from her face what she was thinking about and why her tone of voice sounded meaningful.

"No, of course we should go to dinner." He answered immediately. Even he knew that skipping out on what could quite possibly be considered their first official date would make him a _complete_ failure as a boyfriend.

Claire bit her lip as she nodded in response causing his stomach to tighten again with a strong desire to yank her back up to him. She sighed and looked away as she brought a hand from his chest and pressed her hair from her hairline up off her forehead.

"Sounds good." She responded happily, "So, are you ready to go then?"

"Yeah." He muttered as he grabbed her wrist and moved it away from her hair before he kissed her forehead and gave her waist a small squeeze with his hand around the back of her, "Just let me grab my wallet and keys. Hey, I thought I was going to come pick you up?" He asked more casually as he moved away to grab his things off his nightstand.

"Ehhh." Claire replied noncommittally

"What, I can't pick you up for our first date?" He asked surprised as he reached around her and held the door open behind her.

This time Claire was the one to roll her eyes as she said, "It's not our first date. We've been out tons of times and we've been dating for months."

Quil smiled to himself since those were the exact same justifications he had been using for the past twenty-four hours.

"Well it's our first official dinner date and I was going to come get you." He replied confidently, "You didn't have to drive over here."

Claire just bit her lip and scrunched her nose into a funny face before she patted Butch goodbye and made her way down the stairs. "I know. I was just trying to avoid the whole you picking me up thing." She admitted with her back to him on the stairs.

"What? Why?" He asked in complete confusion.

"Because my dad just made this huge deal about Travis picking up Rachel for prom and I don't think I could handle him doing the same thing with you like you were just another teenaged boy and taking pictures of us for my baby book as he simultaneously tried to intimidate you."

Quil immediately laughed at the thought as he pictured Robert trying to squeeze his hand as tightly as he could while he shook it.

"Well, isn't that sort of a rite of passage we're supposed to go through?"

"… I'd rather not…." She admitted truthfully without quite looking at him.

He reached over and wrapped an arm around her to pull her into his side as they walked from the stairs to the side door of the shop. She leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his waist and he could feel whatever apprehension she seemed to be feeling start to fade.

"Alright. That's fine. But I get to drop you off tonight. I'll pick you back up tomorrow, so you can come get your car, but I get the whole standard goodnight at the doorstep." He said seriously.

Claire laughed before she said, "Deal. But it might all be for nothing when I make you come back in through my window twenty minutes later so that I don't have to sleep alone without you."

"I was already planning on it." He assured as he held the passenger door of his car open for her.

.

The drive to the restaurant in Treeport passed quickly with surprisingly low amounts of traffic and in less than twenty minutes they were parking in front of the restaurant with Claire laughing almost ridiculously hard at the fact that Quil had just said licorice was one of his favorite candies.

"Why is that so funny?" He laughed as they got out of the car.

"Because it's a total lie!" She giggled as she met him around the front of the car and easily snuggled up to his side, wrapping both of her arms around his arm he held out to her and intertwining all ten of her fingers with the fingers of his right hand.

"What!? No, it's not! I love licorice, it's probably my favorite." He assured her.

"I have _never_ seen you eat licorice in my entire life." Claire replied in disbelief.

"Claire, you've never seen me do a lot of things… that doesn't mean it's never happened…" he responded.

She surprised him by laughing before she said, "Oh yeah? What other secret personalities have you been holding out?"

Quil rolled his eyes and smiled happily at her as he grabbed the door to the restaurant from a group of people walking out. He had to drop Claire's arms around his so that he could use his right arm to push the door the rest of the way open and hold it for her.

She winked at him as she walked past while pulling her long hair, that was flowing down towards the middle of her back, out of the wind and over one shoulder as she moved. He easily followed the lines of her neck down the smooth skin of her tan shoulder blades and then down the soft material of her dress to see the ruffled edge of her skirt landing surprisingly short just below her ass making her look ridiculously tempting. The scent of her perfume hit him as she moved, and he instinctually leaned in closer as he reached a hand out and pinched the edge of her skirt behind her where she couldn't feel it.

As they walked into the entrance of the restaurant Quil sensed more than saw the reaction of someone a few feet away from them and looked up to find a guy, probably close to him in age, sitting on a bench waiting for a table with two woman who were obviously part of his group. Quil followed his eyes to see him notice his hand on Claire's hem before following the lines up to her ass and making a surprisingly appreciative face as he continued up to the top of her with his eyes dipping down the black lace halter straps of her bra and past the neckline of her dress to try to peek down at her cleavage that was out of his view.

Quil made an annoyed tsk in his throat loud enough for the guy to hear at the same time he heard Claire asking the hostess for a table for two. As soon as the guy heard him he looked up to meet Quil's disbelieving face that was silently communicating his warning. The douchebag had his hands on his knees and lifted them up at the wrist in a defense before he shrugged making a casual whatcha-gonna-do face and then wrapped his arm around the woman sitting next to him and immediately claiming her attention.

"You alright?" Claire asked him sounding confused as she looked up at him and then followed his gaze to the guy a few feet away.

"Yeah, fine." He said easily, forcing himself to drop it and snap back out of his frustration. "Sorry babe, how long did she say the wait was?" He asked loud enough for the guy next to them to hear the way he addressed her.

"Ten minutes. You want to sit down?" She answered as she seemed to wisely lead him to some chairs as far from the guy as the waiting area allowed.

They'd only been sitting for a minute when the doors to the restaurant opened next to them to let a small group of people in. Quil looked over when Claire tensed in response. He had been staring at her as she spoke, so he immediately noticed her reaction and looked to see what was bothering her. The group was an obvious foursome of high school students dressed for prom and Quil looked back to Claire to see why she was reacting so intensely to their presence.

She kept looking up at the back of the taller guy standing next to them with his much shorter date that was almost a foot shorter than he was. The kid must have sensed Claire looking at him because he turned to look around curiously but as soon as he met her eyes she immediately looked away without acknowledging him. His eyebrows lifted together in obvious intrigue and he opened his mouth to say something before he looked over at Quil sitting next to her with his arm causally around the back of her chair watching him and immediately swallowed nervously and turned sharply back to his date without saying anything to acknowledge them.

Quil brushed the side of Claire's shoulder with his hand around her to softly get her attention.

"Did he ask you to prom?" He guessed knowingly.

She shrugged, clearly trying to play it off casually, "Only four times…."

Quil looked back at the kid in surprise as he summed him up more seriously. He was tall, probably six two, but surprisingly thin. Quil would be surprised if he weighed more than a hundred and sixty pounds.

"Do you want me to say something?" He asked Claire easily as he watched the kid joking around obnoxiously with his group as they went to sit in the seats the jerk with the two girls who had checked out Claire had just vacated.

"Wha- No! Quil," Claire said as she wrapped a hand around his cheek and turned his face so that his attention was back on her. "I just want to enjoy my time with you…. _without_ anyone else making you slightly crazy, alright?" She said sweetly with a smile, obviously acknowledging his reactions to the men around her that he'd thought he'd done a better job of hiding.

Quil laughed at her perception before he leaned in and kissed her lips softly for a second, "Alright, that sounds good." He assured her just as they were called back to their table.

.

"Alright, so what did we decide for dessert? The triple chocolate brownie or the pecan pie?" Quil asked her an hour and a half later.

Claire groaned as she leaned back against the bench of their small two-person booth. "Seriously, Quil? I can't eat anything else unless you're okay with me puking in the car on the way home…."

"Really? You barely ate anything." He asked thinking of the size of her tiny six-ounce fillet.

She chuckled in disbelieve before saying, "No, I barely ate anything _compared_ to you! I ate a ton by anyone's normal standards!"

Quil laughed in response since that was probably true just as the server came back and he cut her off before she could even speak by ordering the slice of pecan pie to go and asking for the check, she nodded and headed off to her next table.

Quil just sighed in contentment as he leaned forward against the table and got to resume his favorite activity of staring at Claire.

"What?" She chuckled as she reached forward to grab his hand sitting in front of him as she took a drink of her soda.

"You're so pretty." He answered easily, and she lit up a smile in response. He just smiled back at her as he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. "No seriously, Claire, have I told you how good you look tonight?"

She bit her lip as she smiled happily and then shrugged casually in response, "I could stand to hear it again." She answered teasingly and Quil laughed in response.

"Well you look beautiful. I really like that dress… you said it was new?" He asked her again, a little surprised since he was sure he'd never seen it before.

She smiled and shrugged again before saying suggestively, "… Maybe…."

Quil tilted his head at her in intrigue as he lifted just one eyebrow and smiled, "Claire?"

"Yeah?" She quickly answered.

"Did you buy a new dress for _me_?" He asked suggestively with a huge smile that he could feel on his face.

She rolled her eyes at him as she shrugged and then looked away for a second. When he didn't say anything, she looked back at him to find his expectant look on his face.

"… Maybe…." She repeated in response.

Quil looked around with a surprised and impressed expression on his face. "Wow." He said feeling surprisingly victorious in response, "You've never really done that before." He asked surprise.

"Well you've never really taken me out like this before." She explained easily.

Quil raised his eyebrows as he pursed his lips to the side and nodded his head, consenting to her point, "Well from here on out I'm fixing that. Expect me to be taking you out a lot more often…. _Especially_ if you're going to be looking like that when I do."

Claire smiled in response and pretended to roll her eyes but Quil could see her blush, obviously happy with the comment and the sight of her had his heart pounding in his chest.

"Alright, you ready to get out of here?" He asked after giving himself another second to just stare at her, "You want to check times to see if there's a movie you want to go see?"

"Naw, there's nothing good out. Let's just go home and relax." She answered easily just as the server came back with a bag of their food she'd boxed up and the pie Quil had just ordered and set the bag on the table while she handed Quil the check and asked if there'd be anything else.

Quil stuck his card right into the folder and handed it directly back to her in response. He turned back to Claire and was just about to ask where she meant exactly by 'home' when she continued,

"I just want to cuddle up with Butch and watch tv alone with you for a few hours."

"That sounds great, Babe." He answered happily, feeling more than a little pleased that she clearly meant his place.

The past few days he had been thinking nonstop about how much he wanted her to be a part of his home permanently. He knew he had freaked her out by bringing up marriage too quickly but if he was honest with himself he didn't really regret it, especially if it got _her_ thinking about it. Lately, it was _all_ he could seem to think about and if he could get her to start seriously thinking about their future together he'd take it as a major victory.

It was only thirty-five minutes later he was following Claire up the stairs to his apartment, feeling entertained as he listened to her talk excitedly about the show she had been binge watching on Netflix.

"Seriously, Quil, it's hilarious. You need to check this show out with me!"

Quil laughed, "I know, Claire. I was watching _The Office_ way back when it was still on the air." He replied sarcastically. "If you want to check out something really original, look up the British version."

Claire spun around with a gasp right as she reached the door. "There's a _British_ version of _The Office_!?

Quil laughed again as he reached her at the top of the stairs. "Oh, honey, I love you." He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her.

She smiled as she stretched in his embrace and reached up to place one hand on his chest and the other in the back of his hair, "Why? Because I'm so young and adorable?"

"Something like that." He teased as he leaned towards her.

She didn't even reply to his comment before she stood up on her toes and met him with her lips pressed forcefully against his. Quil would have sighed in relief if it wouldn't have interfered with the way she was kissing him. He felt like the need to kiss her might have been persisting in the back of his mind all night long and he just hadn't realized it until he finally felt the relief of doing it.

He tightened his arm around her until she was pressed against his chest and he was squeezing her probably a little too tightly for her circulation. He continued to slowly push into her until they both hit the door behind her and then used it as slight leverage to support her while he kissed her like it was his first breath of fresh air all day. When they heard Butch barking excitedly at them from the other side of the door she chuckled and broke her face away from his.

"We did come home to spend time with him." She laughed still sandwiched tightly between Quil and the door.

Quil huffed out a slightly annoyed breath at the dog who was now interrupting his moment with Claire and reached behind her to support her weight as he turned the knob and let the door fall open behind them. Claire giggled as they backed their way into the apartment while Butch attacked them with his excitement. He kept jumping up, barking excitedly and wagging his tail so hard that it kept slapping both of their legs. He jumped up on his back legs high enough that he was resting against Claire while Quil held her steady and he licked her face enthusiastically.

Claire giggled as she squealed, "Butch!"

Quil laughed at the look on her face before he patted Butch firmly on the back and said, "Butch, go out!"

Apparently Butch needed to be let out because he was surprisingly obedient as he channeled his excitement and ran right out the door and down the stairs in about three seconds flat. Quil let go of Claire and turned quickly to shut the door behind them so that Butch couldn't come running immediately back in.

"Whew!" He breathed out a sigh of relief once the air settled from the hurricane of Butch's enthusiasm. He leaned against the wall as he kicked off his dress shoes next to the door.

"You'd think he hadn't seen us in a week." Claire laughed as she dropped her purse directly on the floor and made her way over to the kitchen peninsula where she started sorting through a pile of mail on the counter Quil had left there that included several catalogs that were addressed directly to her.

Quil followed her movement from his spot next to the door and watched as she leaned against the counter with her back to him and started flipping through the first catalog while casually using her left sandal to push off the straps of the sandal on her right foot. It was an adorably cute sight; her so casually domestic in his kitchen while she leaned slightly with the motion and the edge of her dress swayed lightly just over her ass bringing his attention down to her long legs.

His heart jumped in response and he moved swiftly from where he had been frozen by the door watching her, to try to pick back up from that moment a minute ago the dog (that clearly belonged to Claire) seemed to have stolen.

Claire was still casually flipping through a pottery barn magazine as she moved her now bare right foot to switch over and try to pull the straps off her left as Quil came up smoothly behind her. He didn't say anything as he wrapped an arm around her waist and used a hand to pull her long hair away from the side of her neck. She froze for a second in his arms as if she was surprised before she seemed to melt back into them when she let the catalog drop to the counter as she leaned back against him. He set his free arm down beside her on top of the counter so that he was pinning her in his embrace before he leaned down to the bare spot of her neck and shoulders he'd just exposed and softly pressed his lips against her.

She sighed softly as she placed a hand on top of his arm around her waist and used the other to move more of her hair out of the way as she pressed back into him.

Quil squeezed her waist as he let his lips linger against her and then brushed them softly against her skin as he slowly shook his head back and forth against her neck.

"… You smell so good…." He muttered against her and felt her shiver with a chill when his breath brushed her skin.

"… I always thought you liked this perfume." She breathed quietly, and he nodded silently against her as he let his lips continue to brush her without actually kissing her.

He felt her shiver against him again before she pulled away so that she could turn around to face him while placing her hands against his chest.

He switched sides so that he was leaning his head the other direction as he continued touching the exposed side of her neck. She sighed again causing him to pull her in closer just as they heard Butch scratching and whining at the door.

Before he could think to respond to the interruption Claire moved her hands to grab his biceps and hold him to her as she muttered quietly like she didn't want to interrupt the moment, "Just ignore him-"

It was all the encouragement that Quil ever needed from her and he used his arms around her to pull back his hands until they were on either side of her waist and then lifted her up until she was sitting on the counter in front of him that he had been pinning her back against. She went eagerly and wrapped her arms around his neck as he started to finally actually kiss her neck and allow himself to taste the sweetness of her skin again.

She sighed again and suddenly Quil couldn't seem to hear anything that wasn't _her_.

Claire was everywhere, and it was all he could focus on or hear. Her breathing was accelerated and erratic right in his ear and her heart was pounding as she started shaking beside him in a way that told him it was because she was so tightly wound and not because she was nervous or afraid.

" _Quil…."_ She breathed his name quietly as she tilted her head up to give him more access to her neck as she sighed against him.

He could suddenly only hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears and it wasn't until he squeezed down on her thigh with one hand while toying with the lace on the side of her hip with the other that he realized he had gone under her dress. He immediately pictured himself sticking a finger down the edge of the black lace around her neck that was coming from her bra and following it all the way down below her dress.

He blew out a frustrated breath as he pulled back enough so that his lips were hovering next to her ear with his cheek pressed against her hair instead of continuing his way kissing up her neck and he could feel her slight confusion at his pull back,

"… Dammit, Claire…. I want to touch you so badly…" He breathed as an explanation as he pushed his nose against her and inhaled the skin right behind her ear.

He felt her shiver against him again and he enjoyed the slightly torturous feel of her for a moment before she nodded ever so slightly.

"… Okay." She muttered a little nervously.

His body reacted to her before his mind did.

His hands had already jumped six inches farther up, bunching up her dress between them, with one hand now touching the lace that hung from her bra covering her ribs while his hand that had been on her thigh was now sticking a thumb under the lace of her panties on her hip before he could even think.

"What?" He breathed in confusion against her as he tried to listen to her past the pounding of blood in his ears.

"You can touch me." She whispered more confidently with her head still tilted against him.

The animal inside him was already lunging out of Quil to try to get to as much of her as he could while the side of him that was only minimally holding on to whatever control he needed to make sure _she_ was sure. He breathed out a breath as his hands shook with the effort it took to maintain his control and knew she could feel it. She run a hand through the back of his hair and then down his neck in response and he shivered against her as the chills ran deeply down his spine and she quivered against him in reply.

He was barely keeping his hands contained against her still as he breathed out in a desperate voice,

"… Claire…. I'm afraid if I touch you… I won't be able to stop..." He admitted with his head still next to her ear, breathing in the scent of her shampoo coming from her hair. It was slowly driving him insane until he couldn't think anymore.

She nodded before she muttered,

"… I know…."

She took a breath against him before she said,

"So, don't stop."

… _..Don't stop? Don't stop? Don't stop!_

The words and their meaning bounced chaotically in his head as he felt his hand against her ribs creep up another inch against the lace of her bra…so close to touching her but he still wasn't convinced he had the control to allow himself to do it. He had never wanted something so badly in his entire life and yet he was afraid of what it would do to her if he let himself have it.

She felt his hesitation against her and breathed out in a voice so throaty he was sure she meant it, "It's okay, Quil. I'm ready. I want you too."

As soon as she said it the wolf inside him lunged out of his grasp and he had no control to stop himself anymore. Before his head was even processing the full connotations behind the words she was saying his hands were moving and he was yanking the dress already bunched over his arms over her head.

He only had a half of a second to appreciate the black lace of the matching panties she was wearing with the bra that had lace trailing down her ribs and around her back before he was kissing her probably harder than he ever had before and lifting her up off the counter as she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist pressing herself as tightly against him as she could.

As he took a step away from the counter with her in his arms he heard a popping sound and realized that, with more strength then he would have thought she was capable of, she had yanked with one swift move at the front of his shirt until the buttons had completely torn off and dropped with a slight clatter to the floor in a move that only stood to make him lose more control and want her even more if that was somehow even possible.

He took another step back and then turned and set her down so that she was on the edge of the bed with her legs still wrapped around him. He pulled back just enough to yank his open shirt off his arms and chest and let it fall on the floor before immediately coming back to kiss Claire as he pushed them both farther onto the bed.

She gave a small moan in the back of her throat and his hands immediately jumped to the bottom lace of her bra and reached underneath the edge of it, ready to lift up over her head and finally be done with it when he forced himself to slow down just long enough to pull back and look at her as he asked desperately,

"Are you sure? Are you _absolutely_ sure this is what you want!?"

She looked directly in his eyes as she ran a hand down his chest.

"Yes." she answered confidently

He couldn't even try to hold himself back from her anymore, he didn't want to. He didn't hesitate, and he was still making eye contact with her when he let his hands immediately pull the lace over her arms and head and tossed the bra behind her so that he could get his first look at Claire topless.

The image of her took his breath away and he thought his heart may have completely stopped for a second before his reaction to it had him on top of her so quickly he basically lunged at her until she was beneath him on the mattress kissing him with her hands on the waist of his jeans, struggling to move from the awkward angle her hands were trapped at to get past unbuttoning them and slowly work down his zipper.

Quil quickly realized his jeans were just in the way of the business at hand and rolled over unto his back as he smoothly yanked them down his hips and off his feet taking his socks off along with them and throwing them off the side of his bed where he was now just in his boxer-briefs.

He was irritated at having the small amount of space on the bed between himself and Claire from the spot where he had rolled over to work his jeans off, but the plus side was he had a better view of her topless and gesturing eagerly with her hand bending at her wrist for him to come back to her from a foot and half away than he had when he had been on top of her. He leaned back over until he was kissing her again, and her hand came up to hold his face while the other hooked on the elastic of his boxer-briefs before he easily pulled down on the waist of them and then tossed them on the floor to join the waiting pile of the rest of his clothes.

He rolled over so that he was hovering over Claire completely naked with a hand on the waist of her panties, ready to have all obstacles completely out of the way. Suddenly, he had no patience or control to slowly and lovingly drag her panties down her legs. Without even a thought not to, he was yanking the lace between his fingers until he heard the sharp tear of their rip and then his hand was touching the soft skin of her hip where her panties had been a second before as his other hand yanked them down and off her other leg. As soon as she lifted and pointed her foot to help him quickly remove the remains of her underwear he pulled back from her just enough to catch his first glimpse of her naked body since she was probably three years old.

The thought should have grossed him out and made him feel creepy but somehow it didn't. Seeing Claire naked now just drove home how lucky he had always been to be in her life since she was only a toddler.

She had always been beautiful, even as a child, but somehow, she had grown into a woman that had managed to become the most amazingly beautiful thing he had ever seen.

The second he saw her everything inside of him changed. The frenzied wolf that had been lunging for control and had aggressively stripped them of all their clothing was nowhere to be found as he suddenly had the desire for the first time ever while looking at a naked woman to 'make love'….

He wanted to take his sweet time worshipping every inch of her glorious body as he did whatever it took to try to make her understand the intensity of his love for her.

He just sat frozen, hovering above her and slightly to the side where he had stopped the second after he had discarded her torn panties. He was in complete shock at his own reactions to her and saw her look up at him in surprised confusion at his sudden pause.

"… Claire… You're just so beautiful…. I can't even comprehend it….." He whispered and realized it was the most honest thing he had ever said before he leaned over toward her hip and started kissing her amazingly smooth skin as he made his way up her belly from the side.

He felt her respond as she arched her back and pressed her skin farther into his lips while she dug her fingers into his hair as she whispered his name again. "… _Quil_ …." He had never heard her say it like that before tonight but suddenly felt like he needed to make it his life's mission to get her to say it that way as often as humanly possible.

He was so lost in her as his hands found their way to experiencing her in a way they had been dying to for months, that he almost forgot to pause before he got started.

He stopped briefly while hovering over her to blindly reach into the drawer of his nightstand and pull out the small red box without ever pulling away from the spot behind her ear he was ever so slightly sucking on.

"What are you doing?" She whispered in a throaty voice, obviously confused.

He held up the box of condoms for her in explanation even though he wasn't sure she could see it with him still tasting her neck while propping himself up over top of her, so he muttered, "Protection."

"But you don't need that." She muttered sounding more confused as she looked at him, pulling him back with her hands around his face.

He felt his brows pull together and made a confused expression, unsure of what she was talking about.

"What do you mean?" He asked confused, but he figured most of that was probably due to his complete inability to currently think clearly.

"…. You said you were clean, right?" She asked suddenly sounding nervous.

"Of course." He replied confidently with the box of condoms still in his hand next to her.

"So, we don't need it then." She said seriously.

"…What about birth control?" He asked doubtfully, even while question why he was currently questioning giving her _anything_ she wanted.

"I'm _ON_ birth control." She said confidently.

"… You sure?" He asked confused even as his lips were already making their way to her collarbone and then slowly working their way farther down.

He was already tossing the condoms aside. He had never had sex without protection before and now suddenly having the chance to do it with Claire during her first time was _way_ too appealing for him to really question.

"Yes, I'm sure." She said as she pulled him back to her lips and started kissing him again. He immediately brought his hand back to her, not caring at all where the box he'd been holding landed.

His hand moved to her thigh above her knee as he guided her leg up higher around him until it was even with his hip when she suddenly seemed to stiffen up and hesitate.

"What's wrong?"

He immediately pulled back look at her in concern. He hadn't even done anything yet.

She hesitated and looked off for just a second before she looked back at him and then whispered honestly, "… Just…. Is it going to hurt?"

Claire seemed so confident and assured in them that he completely forgot for a moment that she was a virgin. He was mentally kicking himself for not doing a better job of walking her through it.

"Naw, Baby. I'll always do my best to make it good for you and coming from _me_ , that's actually saying something."

She laughed in response, breaking the tension that seemed to have stolen through her body and relieving Quil that he had achieved his goal of getting her out of her head.

"But seriously, we'll just take it slow and if it ever hurts just tell me and we'll stop." He said confidently as he took the time to look in her eyes and rub the side of her cheek with his thumb.

She looked up at him and nodded seriously.

"Okay. …Just do it…" She said bracingly as she grabbed tightly onto the sheet beneath her, bunching it into fists in her palms.

Quil chuckled at her as pressed his nose back to her neck before he muttered softly but as seriously as he could,

"I love you. …You know that, right?"

She nodded against him and Quil could feel all the nervous tension in her jaw as he bent in to kiss it and slowly started to feel her relax around him again. He smiled to himself against her since, she might not know it, but there was no way he was going to be doing anything to her until she was eagerly ready and waiting for him to.

.

Quil's mind and ears were ringing with Claire's one-word answer. He kept hearing her voice, over and over again in repeat in his head.

' _Yes'? She said yes?_

He kept thinking it to himself in disbelieve about the second time that evening she had said that beautiful answer as he laid on the bed staring up at the ceiling with his left hand under his head and Claire curled up with her head on his chest while he used his free hand to play with her hair. She hadn't spoken since she'd said it, but she sighed in contentment and Quil could tell she was almost asleep.

He knew it wouldn't be fair to hold her to her answer when he hadn't even meant to ask the question, but his mind was still boggled that she'd said yes _at all_.

In the immediate after-sex euphoria the question had simply popped out of him before Claire's head had even hit the pillow beneath her. She was still panting to try to catch her breath as Quil laid her back down on the bed beneath them.

He just couldn't get over the way she looked in that moment. Completely and totally contented. Her hair was a little wild and her face was a little red, but it just added to her total beauty in her complete happiness and Quil had never felt as sure and content in his life. So, the words, "Marry me." had popped uncontrolled out of his mouth with Claire still in his arms, tangled up around him.

She opened her eyes to look up at him as she smiled only a little slyly and said without hesitation,

"Yes."

That had only been five minutes before and they hadn't spoken at all since. Claire was twirling her finger absentmindedly around on his chest and Quil couldn't see her face, but he was fairly sure her eyes were closed as she basked in her own well-deserved afterglow.

"So… you said you're on birth-control?" he broke the silence, figuring that it was at least better late than never to have the official birth-control conversation.

"Mmmhmm." She answered softly without moving or veering from her current position.

"When did you go on the pill?" He asked conversationally as he continued to twirl a strand of her hair.

"I'm not on the pill." She said easily and Quil's stomach dropped as his heart started pounding. He immediately started thinking of all their possible options now and if the nearest pharmacy that would sell them a day after pill.

"-I got an IUD, it's supposed to be more effective." She continued as she patted his chest, clearly reacting to the quickened pace of his heartbeat.

"…An IUD?" He asked confused and still not quite convinced that he had nothing to worry about since they'd just had unprotected sex without a clear birth control method in place.

"Mmmhmm." She repeated again.

"…. Claire?" He asked when she didn't elaborate.

"Yeah?" She replied as she turned her head a little so that she could hear him more clearly.

"What the hell is an IUD?"

She chuckled before she turned her head all the way up so that she could look up at him as she said,

"Aren't you the one that's supposed to be some sort of sexual expert?"

Quil rolled his eyes in response while feeling secretly a whole lot pleased with himself that she clearly thought of him that way before he responded, "Sexually, yes. Gynecologly, no."

Claire laughed again before she replied. "IUD; Inter-Uterine Device."

"…. Okay… So, what does that mean exactly?" he asked feeling just as confused as ever.

"Exactly, what it sounds like. There's a small device in my uterus that works as my birth control." She explained easily.

"….. Wait… there's something inside of you!?" He could hear how his voice raised in pitch towards the end as the concern and realization set in.

"Yes. My birth-control. It's this little plastic T about this" she held her fingers up for him about an inch and a half apart "…big. It sits on top of my cervix and releases hormones to keep me from ovulating." She explained helpfully.

Quil pursed his lips together, mildly impressed as he looked down at her and then down towards her bare stomach pressed against him where he imagined it was deep inside of her.

"So, how'd it get there?" He asked confused and trying to envision if she had to put it there herself and how that would even work.

"I had a doctor insert it a few months ago." She said simply as she laid her head back down in a more comfortable position against his chest.

"You went and saw a doctor?" He asked still confused and surprised.

"Yeah, and it hurt like a mother so be thankful that the IUD lasts a full five years because I am _not_ eager to repeat that experience any time soon." She answered a little darkly before she sighed again in contentment and Quil could tell she'd closed her eyes again.

He smiled at himself in response. He liked after-sex Claire and how contentedly relaxed she clearly was.

"Why didn't you tell me about it?" He asked, not ready to let the conversation drop.

She shrugged casually against him before she muttered tiredly into his chest, "I didn't want you to know about it. Why didn't you tell me about the condoms? …. When did you get those, by the way? Please tell me those haven't been expired for fifteen years and that you were seriously considering using them…."

Quil laughed in response before he rubbed his hand against her bare back and said assuredly,

"They're not expired. I got them the day after my mom walked in on us in my old room."

Claire seemed a little relieved and relaxed even more against him, so he continued,

"Why didn't you want me to know about it?"

That part made him feel more than a little concerned, especially since it was only a few days ago that he found out she had been too nervous about his reactions to confide in him about the football team's (now moot) bet on her virginity.

"Because I just felt like that would put way too much pressure on us to have sex. I just wanted to be prepared for when it actually happened not setting some sort of precedent that it had to…." She explained in a sleepy voice without moving as she laid her hand palm down on his chest.

That explanation made sense and he breathed a sigh of relief as he rubbed against her back again. He was silent for a moment as he let her bask in her relaxation and he cherished the feel of her against him before he couldn't stop himself from saying,

"Yeah, but I would have come with you, ya know…."

"Hmmm?" She asked seemingly confused from the random comment after the seconds of silence.

"To the doctor. I would have gone with you." He explained as he started rubbing random designs around on her lower back and she sighed again, clearly enjoying the feeling.

"I know. I would have asked you to if I'd known it would've hurt that badly." She replied still speaking directly in his chest and Quil's heart tightened and gave a small lurch the way it always did at the thought of her pain.

He brought his hand up from her back and placed a tight hold on her head before he leaned forward and kissed the top of her hair and then ran his hand down the back of her hair in a sympathetic gesture. Claire just shrugged easily in return since it was clearly over, and she didn't seem concerned about it.

They just laid there silently together for a couple of minutes before Quil finally sighed out in a mixture of contentment and regret before saying,

"Well Baby, we should probably get you cleaned up before we keep relaxing."

"I have to get cleaned up?" She asked sounding concerned and confused as she turned against him to look up at him.

"Well…. I figured you would at least want to get all the blood off." He answered easily.

"Blood?" She asked before looking down toward their legs and immediately gasping dramatically. "Is that from me!?" She asked sounding shocked as she looked up at him, clearly concerned.

Quil shrugged slightly as he pursed his lips and tilted his head in answer since he knew that it obviously wasn't from him but not wanting to take the chance of ruining the moment for her by saying that.

She gasped again as she looked down at herself and then said in disbelieve,

"I don't understand… it barely even hurt at all…."

Quil smiled at her, again feeling rather pleased with himself, even though she wasn't looking at him and leaned over to kiss her head again before he said reassuringly, "It's really normal. It was your first time."

"Oh yeah? Did you bleed like that on your first time?" She muttered sarcastically, and he laughed in response. "Eh…" she groaned softly before saying, "… This is so embarrassing…. I mean it's all over: you, the bed…. everything."

Quil lifted his head up quickly in response to look down at her as he said seriously, "Claire, you have nothing to be embarrassed about after that. That was _amazing_ and this…." He gestured with his hand down at themselves and the slightly red stained mess around them "…just gives us the excuse to now take a very hot and very naked shower together."

She looked up from the mess below them she had been fixated on a second before as she smiled and then rolled her eyes teasingly before whispering a little more hesitantly, "Are you sure you're not upset about it?"

 _Wait…. Isn't that my line!? It was HER first time!_ He immediately thought incredulously to himself.

"Upset!?" He asked in complete disbelief, "How could I ever be upset after something that incredible!?"

She smiled hugely up at him as she bit down slightly on the inside of her lip and immediately Quil was already feeling like endorphins were flooding through him again.

"Is it always that _good_?" She asked sounding almost confused and he would have laughed at her comment if he hadn't understood exactly what she meant.

"Never." He replied quickly, and she gave him a look of confusion in response. "Never in all my experience has it _ever_ been anything like that." He replied in complete honesty.

In all his wildest dreams, never would he have ever been able to anticipate just how amazing Claire had truly been to experience for the first time. He would have thought that her inexperience would have worked against her instead of in her favor, but he would have been utterly and completely wrong. She obviously had zero preconceived notions about what he would want and instead gave her all, as she said exactly what she wanted and was thinking in a way that was completely raw and honest and the mostly incredibly sexy thing he had ever seen. Instead of having sex that had seemed to come out of a low budget porno like had frequently been his past experience they had shared the most intimate and open moment of his entire life and it made it all the more incredible. _SHE_ had been incredible. Everything she said and did just turned him on even more and got him going until he just couldn't take anymore and lost himself completely to the intensity that was Claire herself.

She rolled her eyes at him again in response before she said, " _OKAY_ , we don't need to hear about 'all' your other experiences."

Quil chuckled in response as he looked up at the ceiling in disbelieve and muttered, "What does it even matter when I have clearly never experienced _anything_ like having sex with _you_ , Claire."

She blushed a little as she smiled and bit her lip again.

He chuckled again as he leaned down and kissed her slightly swollen lips softly, more than happy even _if_ in his dream scenario he would prefer to think of them as officially engaged. He'd wait until the time was actually right, and then he would propose, maybe in a few years from now. In the meantime, he could more than easily live with where they were happily at now.

"Come on, let's get in the shower." Claire said easily as she started to sit up and then immediately squeaked in alarm.

"What?" Quil asked confused.

"I think something just leaked out of me and I'm too afraid that something came from you to look down and check…" she explained before she held her hand against him to keep him from leaning forward to look.

"Well…. It's all a part of you now, right?" He said easily as he bit down on his own lip to try to keep from laughing and immediately failed when Claire turned to give him a dirty look in response.

"Come on, let's get cleaned up and then I'll let you pretend to introduce me to _The Office_." He said comfortingly as he sat up behind her and wrapped his arms around her still naked waist.

She sighed as she nodded and leaned her head back against him.

"Claire?" He said softly as he ran a hand through her hair falling to the side of him.

"Quil?" She teased using the same tone he'd used to say her name.

"… I _love_ you… And that is something I've never said to any other woman after having sex….. It's actually something I've never said to any other woman period." He told her seriously.

"I love you so much it actually hurts." She replied, and he immediately pulled back to look down at her.

"Are you _hurting_?" He asked concerned.

She shrugged a little without quite looking at him, "Maybe just a little sore."

He opened his mouth to reply but she cut him off before he could speak, "Don't you dare apologize for anything, Quil!"

"But-" he started to say but she cut him off again.

"Quil, I mean it! That was the single greatest experience of my life and I wouldn't change a thing about it so don't you dare ruin this memory for me by apologizing for something like you wish you could change it!"

Quil smiled at her as he pulled her back into his chest and kissed her head again. "Okay, I won't." He happily assured her as he started playing with her hair again, "Can I just at least say that I am sorry you're sore?" He asked a little regretfully.

"Nope. Nothing but that you are as amazingly happy as I am." She replied as she leaned against him.

"So amazingly happy." He replied, and he could practically hear her smile in response.

"Good. Now can we please shower? I'm starting to feel sticky and I don't even want to think about why….."

Quil laughed as he started to help her off the bed while carefully maneuvering out of the mess they had made together.

.

By the time they had gotten out of the shower and Claire had found a pair of Quil's clean boxer-briefs for her to wear since he had ripped the pair of lace panties she had come in off her, he had three missed calls and five text messages.

"Dammit." He muttered as he sorted through the messages on his phone.

"What is it?" Claire asked surprised as she finished pulling her bra back on over her head and started running her fingers through her wet hair.

"Leah can't go out and run her scheduled patrol tonight." He explained while doing nothing to hide the annoyance in his tone. "My only options at this point are to go myself or ask Ty to run alone with Collin…"

Claire moved her lips to the side of her face in a look that clearly portrayed what a bad idea she thought that would be, "You better go, babe."

"What!? No. I'm not leaving you tonight." He replied confidently.

"It's okay, Quil. I'm not upset about it. I know you aren't exactly pushing me out." She said unconcerned as she walked over and opened the front door to let Butch back in since he had started whining and scratching at it again.

"Claire, you aren't another one of my wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am's." Quil said in slight annoyance as he tried to think through an alternative other than leaving, "Of course I'm gonna stay the night with you."

Claire laughed in response as she came back to him and put her hand on his chest still wet from their shower since he was using his towel wrapped around his waist.

"And you still can….. _after_ you run you're patrol. I wanted to check in on Jamie before he goes to bed and it's almost nine, so it works out perfectly anyways." She assured him.

Quil growled at the ceiling in frustration before he looked back down at her and asked, "Are you sure? I could just make Collin run alone. He'll be psyched I finally let him do it again for the first time since his 'accident'."

She smiled at him as she stood up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss on his lips, "I'm sorry, but if you are expecting us to spend the preceding eighteen hours together after every time we have sex for the rest of our life's then the opportunities for doing so are going to be very limited…."

Quil smiled and then lightly shoved her away from him while he said,  
"Oh, well in that case, get out of here!"

She rolled her eyes at him as she smiled and shook her head before reaching over and grabbing her dress off the kitchen peninsula where he had dropped it a few hours before.

"Can you see the boxers underneath this?" She asked concerned when she pulled it back down over herself and was tugging at the hem of it to make sure it covered where the legs of his boxer-briefs came down to the middle of her thighs.

"No, you're good." He assured her even though he could see about a half-inch of the black material peeking out.

The truth was he thought it was really sexy seeing his underwear on her peeking out from that little dress she was wearing and didn't want to see her embarrassed about it or try to change it.

After that he quickly threw on some boxers and gym shorts and left shirtless hand in hand with Claire since he would immediately be leaving from her house to run patrol.

"We can just walk or take my car." She suggested as they walked down the stairs together since she seemed to have read his mind about him leaving from her house.

"Mmmm let's walk, it's really nice out…. Are you going to be okay to walk or are you still hurting?" He asked suddenly concerned about the slightly off way she was walking and what he may have done to her if she was too sore to walk the quarter mile to her house.

Claire laughed in response before saying, "I think I can survive enough to walk the distance home."

He stopped walking in the middle of the shop and turned to give her a serious look.

"We'll just walk a little slowly." She said more seriously in response.

"Claire…." Quil said immediately feeling concerned.

"I'm fine, Quil." She said completely confidently, "It's like you said; it was my first time and I was bound to expect some….. _accommodating_ to have to take place."

Quil rolled his eyes at her word choice as he ran a hand through his hair and started moving toward the door of the shop leading Claire with the hand he was holding hers in.

"Shit, you make it sound like I ripped you in half…"

"Only a little bit…" she said soothingly with a shrugged and he immediately stopped moving to look at her in alarm again.

She ignored him as she kept walking dragging him along behind her with their intertwined hands.

"So, when do you want to set a date?" She asked clearly changing the subject and Quil debated for a second whether he was willing to let it drop.

After considering what she had said about him potentially ruining the memory for her he decided to comply with her change in subject instead of insisting on dragging her to the Urgent-Care there on the reservation and demanding a full examination.

"….. Like to go out to dinner again?" He asked confused.

She laughed in response like he was joking.

"What?" He laughed, confused.

"No! When do you want to set _THE_ date?" She answered as she shook her head at him.

"The date for what?" He asked as his heart started pounding and he forced his mind to stay blank the same way he always did when he transformed so that he wouldn't get his hopes up and then be disappointed that he had misunderstood what she had meant.

"To get married." She stated like it was obvious, and he immediately had to look over at her and make sure she wasn't kidding.

"You were _serious_ when you said yes!?" He asked in complete disbelief.

"Yes!" She said sounding slightly exasperated before suddenly sounding nervous when she continued, "Why? Were you not serious when you asked!?" She sounded almost panic at the end.

"NO! I was one hundred percent serious, but I didn't think it was fair to hold you to it when I told you like three days ago I wouldn't bring it up again until you were ready." He assured her.

She nodded thoughtfully next to him as she reached out and let her fingers brush against the moss of a tree sticking out about a foot from the rest of the tree line as they walked past.

"I know."

She was silent for a second as they walked together before she continued,

"I've just been thinking about it a lot the past few days since you asked me too…."

"… And?" He asked suddenly eager to hear what conclusion she had come to in that amount of time that would potentially make her say yes if he proposed.

"….. _And_ I think you should let me pick out the ring." She answered simply.

Quil completely stopped walking and Claire took three or four steps forward so that she was in front of him before she realized he was no longer moving and stopped to turn back around and look at him in surprised confusion.

"Are you being serious right now?" He asked, and he noticed how his voice shook a little as he said it.

"Yeah… I mean it's kind of something that I'll have _forever_ and it's not that I don't trust you to pick it out or anything, I just want to make sure that I _completely LOVE_ it, ya know?"

Quil shook his head dismissively at her, almost too stunned to speak.

"Why? Did you have your heart set on picking it out yourself? Am I being too unreasonable right now?" She asked sounding worried.

"No. I'm not talking about the ring. You can have whatever ring you want. You can have ten rings if you want!" He said confidently as he squeezed her hand still intertwined with hers.

She smiled in response, clearly enjoying the idea of ten engagement rings before she asked, "So then what are you talking about?"

He just stared at her for a second wondering if he was dreaming as he tried to absorb the fact that she was obviously seriously considering marrying him even while she was in high school even though they'd agreed months ago to wait until she graduated.

"Nothing, I guess." He said happily before he leaned down and kissed her as he grabbed the side of her face in his free hand.

He let her pull away after a few moments but only because they were technically in a public setting at the side of the road and someone could come past at any moment. In his book, she now officially belonged to him and he could kiss her wherever he wanted to.

He smiled at the look on her face as she blushed a little in response and used her free hand to quickly wipe at her mouth. He gave her hand a little tug as he started walking again and she fell into step beside him.

"… So, we're getting married..." He said trying the words out for size.

The heavy weight of them surprised him but he also felt _more_ than adequate to hold them and loved the feeling of saying them.

"Yeah, that's what happens when you propose, and she says yes." Claire giggled as she started swinging their hands back and forth between them like she used to do as a child.

"How about the end of summer?" He said suddenly and held his breath to see how she'd respond.

"Well… it's May now… I supposed we could pull a wedding together in three months, but I think we need to work some things out between us before we officially become engaged." She replied unconcerned.

"Okay." He agreed easily, not wanting to admit it but thinking he'd pretty much let her have anything she wanted if she was seriously willing to marry him even before her seventeenth birthday. "What are you thinking we need to work on?"

"Well…. I don't want to drop out. I want to go back to Chief Paloma High next year, _BUT_ …" she said quickly like she was afraid he'd interrupt her to argue, "I am willing to take extra credits so that I graduate a year early. If you want to spend a year traveling together we _can_ the year that I would have been a senior and go then before we come back and do the whole college thing."

She looked over at him nervously as he pretended to consider it. "I can live with that." He said unconcerned and she immediately looked relieve in response.

She blew out a small breath before she said, "Good!" and Quil chucked in response.

"Whatever you want, Nino." He agreed quickly.

He looked over at her in time to see her roll her eyes and then could practically read the thoughts in her head as she forced herself to drop it and not say anything about the nickname he couldn't picture himself ever not calling her... even when she _was_ his wife.

The thought had him smiling as he shook his head in complete disbelief at the unexpected turn of events the entire night had taken.

"Have you talked to my dad yet?" She asked randomly.

"No." He answered suddenly feeling concerned, he hadn't even thought to. "I didn't think you'd want me to yet…." He lied smoothly.

She nodded her head like she expected his answer as she squeezed his hand and they rounded the corner to her street. "Maybe we start there before we do anything else."

"How about if I 'come over' first thing tomorrow morning for Sunday breakfast and talk to him about it then?" He asked as he started to calculate how long he would have to run patrol with Collin until he could sneak into bed with Claire tonight.

"Perfect." She said happily as they got to her front yard.

Quil squeezed her hand in return as they started up the front walk and then stopped at her front door.

"Claire….. are you sure this is what you want? Getting married I mean…. The other day you did _not_ seem like it was what you wanted right now." He said seriously, knowing it would tear him apart from the inside out until he saw her again if he left now without making sure.

"Quil…." She said seriously as she took a step towards him in front of the doorstep. "A future with you is the _only_ thing I want. This is the way to ensure that…. I know it may be…. _Unconventional_ , to stay the least, to get married between my sophomore and junior years of high school but I seriously _could not_ care less if it means I get to be married to you for the rest of my life."

The only way he knew how to respond to that was to drop her hand in his so that he could grab her face with both of his hands and then kiss her in a way that hopefully conveyed how much her words meant to him…. Even if it wasn't entirely appropriate for the non-private setting they were in.

He groaned as he pulled back. "I love you so damn much." He muttered under his breath as he placed his forehead against hers.

She chuckled lightly against him before she replied, "I'll love you even more if you're really willing to let me pick the ring."

"Done." He agreed so quickly she almost hadn't finished speaking before he said it and she laughed in response. "I'll see you after my shift."

She nodded her head in reply while she stood up on her toes and quickly kissed him again before reaching out and opening the door next to her.

"Best. Date. Ever." She muttered under her breath as she turned to go inside.

Quil chuckled in response as he leaned back and forced himself to let her go while he took a step away. She turned and gave him one last smile before she walked through the door as he took another step backwards. He saw the last half inch of his boxer-briefs on her as her skirt swooshed when she walked through the door and he groaned softly to himself as she closed it behind her.

He turned around in a daze and ran a shaking hand through his hair as he started to make his way toward the tree line while wondering how in the hell he was going to be able to clear his head and if in fact Collin would just have an _entire_ view of the last three incredible hours of his life.

He had just made it to the trees and was about to drop his shorts when he heard something that made his heart completely stop.

" _QUIL!_ "

Claire was screaming his name so hard he could hear it from fifty yards away even though from the way it was muffled she was clearly still in the house.

" _QUIL!"_ She screamed again less than a second later with so much panic and desperation that he knew something must be seriously wrong.

His hands shook as he forced himself not to do the one thing everything inside of him had been screaming to do, especially since he had just been preparing to do it. He took a single breath and stopped the heat in his gut before he phased and then sprinted back to the house so fast that if anyone saw him, it would be obvious he was something besides just human. Claire screamed his name again for the third time as he came into the kitchen she had obviously just walked into.

Jamie was curled up crying in the corner next to the water cooler while Claire was kneeling in the middle of the floor overtop of what he suddenly realized was Robert's unconscious form. Claire's hands were visibly shaking as she hovered over him clearly unsure what to do. There was blood on them and Quil looked around quickly to find that it had come out of Robert's nose and gotten on her hands when she grabbed his face.

He was stunned frozen in place for a single second as he took in the scene around him before his years of wolf experience kicked in and he took charge of the situation and quickly moved around to kneel in front of Claire on Robert's other side directly in front of Jamie, blocking his view of the situation.

"How long has he been like this?" He asked in that authoritative tone he always used as alpha.

"I..I… don't know…." Claire muttered clearly panicked, "They were like this when I came in a second ago!" She nodded toward Jamie upset in the corner. "Quil, I don't know what's wrong with him!"

Quil reached around her hands to feel for a pulse in Robert's neck and swore aloud when he couldn't find one. He reached down to his chest and ripped open the polo Robert was wearing until his chest was exposed and then intertwined the fingers of his hands together as he locked his elbows and used his body weight to press against Roberts sternum until he felt it break. He started counting as he pumped down against him to force his heart to beat.

He had never had to perform CPR before but had taken a course and become certified in it when Jake had named him the official sub-in alpha of the pack.

It had seemed ridiculous at the time, but he had wanted to be prepared. _No one_ was going to die on his watch. The thought suddenly made his blood run cold.

He counted ten compressions before he looked up at Claire.

"Check to make sure-….. -his mouth and throat are clear." He commanded between counting and she nodded quickly before she pried his loose mouth open and looked inside.

"It looks clear….. I-I can't see anything." She stuttered.

Quil nodded as he continued to count. He hit thirty before he grabbed Robert's chin and forehead and tilted his head back to open his airway and hold his head steady as he locked his mouth overtop of his before he remembered at the last second to pinch his nose closed just as he blew in the first steady breath followed by the second. He felt Robert's chest expand with each breath he forced in but no other reaction before he looked up at Claire as he moved his hands back to her father's chest to continue to compress his heart beneath his palms.

"Call 911." He instructed in a voice so dead it scared even him.

He watched as Claire lunged for her phone in her purse on the floor while he continued counting compression. Lunging rhythmically against Robert's chest though he doubted its effect and knew that even if Claire _could_ manage to get someone there soon, he had no hope to give her. He had felt this type of loss slipping through his fingers before and he knew exactly what it meant….


	24. Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

 **Claire** :

 _I don't understand…. I just don't understand… how can this be happening?_ Claire thought to herself as the voice that spoke in her head echoed around in shock as if she were speaking out loud. _He was fine when I left. He was fine when I left. I was only gone a few hours….. Where the crap was mom!?_

Claire logically knew that she was still in shock, yet she still didn't understand why she couldn't make her reasonably intelligent brain work to process the events of the last few hours. She forced out a breath in agitation while her eyes pooled with tears for about the fifth time. _Finally!_ She thought to herself just as she blinked and then her eyes magically seemed to dry themselves of their own accord.

Frustrated, she pulled a hand up against her forehead and through her hair as she leaned back in her chair until her head hit the wall behind her. At this point she felt it would be a relief to just cry. To finally feel enough emotion behind the adrenaline to actually release grief.

 _Grief_. She would now have to grieve for the loss of someone in her life. Her head spun around the idea as she purposefully smacked her head back against the wall again. She knew she probably looked insane but since she was the only one sitting in an otherwise deserted hallway of the hospital she didn't really care. She knew what was on the other side of the wall behind her which just gave her more motivation to keep smacking her head back against it as she tried to process the fact that her father's body lay on the other side of what would be less than a few inches of drywall and insulation.

The hospital staff had left her here after they had deposited her father in the room and then turned the lights off as they walked out (that seemed harsh to her… why did they have to leave him alone in the dark?) and then given specific instructions to stay in the hall (essentially guarding the body since the hospital refused to take responsibility for him) until her mom could get there to claim him.

 _What the hell happened!?_ She thought again as her mind tried to rewind and put the puzzle together to figure out how so much could change so quickly.

Her mind buzzed through the events of her evening after she left the house calling only a quick, 'Dad, I'm leaving for my date with Quil!'. 'Don't be out too late!' was his called response from the office as she walked out the front door. She didn't even think she had looked at him or told him she loved him.

Her mind forwarded through her time spent with Quil, not even stopping to dwell on their first time together. Her mind was on a mission and she zipped past anything that wouldn't clue her in on how her father had seemingly dropped dead in the few hours she hadn't been there. Somehow, she landed on the look on Quil's face as he forced his palms down against her dad's chest, compressing his heart while she tried to explain to the 911 operator what had happened when she didn't even know herself.

"Claire." Quil said, softly getting her attention as she screamed at the operator to screw the information and just send help. "I can't feel anything…." He admitted regretfully.

"I know! Keep going!" She answered immediately while thinking how stupid it was that he needed to be told since the whole point of CPR was to beat someone's heart _for them_ , right?

 _He knew._ She suddenly thought with clarity as she thought back to Quil's comment. _He knew he was already gone._

Her eyes filled with tears again as she thought about the way Quil continued to perform CPR for the next twenty minutes until the nearest paramedics could make it there. She knew now that he had only done it for her benefit. He wouldn't stop fighting while she thought there was still a chance.

As soon as the EMTs got there, moving in much less of a hurry than she was, she quickly told Quil to stay with Jamie while she stepped up to climb in the back of the ambulance ahead of the gurney.

"Claire, I should be with you." He said as he grabbed her arm to stop her from climbing in without even looking at him. She had stopped just long enough to say,

"Quil, someone needs to be with Jamie and the last thing he needs tonight is to be dragged to a hospital twenty minutes away."

She could see the indecision written clearly across his face before he bit his cheek as he nodded and then leaned in to briefly kiss her forehead and then backed quickly away to make room for the EMTs about to push her father's gurney into the ambulance parked in the driveway.

"Call me when you get there." He called as she scrambled in and the strained sound of his voice made her look back for a second as she took her seat behind the driver. Even from about fifteen feet away she could see the glisten of tears in his eyes that looked almost black from so far away. He was holding Jamie in his arms who seemed to have cried himself out and was just lying limping against Quil with his head against his shoulder. She meant to say that she would but couldn't get her tongue to form the words before the unapologetic paramedic slammed the door behind her closed and started strapping monitors to her father.

That twenty-minute drive to the nearest hospital in Treeport (the same hospital they'd taken her and Bennett to after the accident) was the longest twenty minutes of Claire's entire life. She sat completely silently with her hands clasped tightly together and the knuckle of one of her forefingers stuck in her mouth between her teeth while her entire body seemed to be held together by tension alone. She stared directly at her father's face laying only about a foot in front of her, unable to look away even to follow the EMT's movements. By the time they got to the hospital the only thing the EMT seemed to be doing to treat him was pump the bag covering his mouth and nose every few seconds, Claire couldn't bring herself to ask why they weren't doing more for him or why they hadn't used the siren to get to the hospital any faster. She was too desperately terrified of the answer to ask the question and the image of the tears in Quil's eyes kept flashing hauntingly before her.

When they pulled into the ambulance bay nothing seemed to happen for a second as Claire unbuckled her seatbelt and counted to ten as she desperately waited for someone to spring into action. The door was flown open and the driver started pulling at the feet of her father's gurney while the female EMT pushed from his head. Claire saw a small team of medical professionals that looked like it consisted of a doctor and a couple nurses waiting just outside the doors to the rig. She immediately registered with surprise that the doctor was the same neurosurgeon that had treated her after the accident.

"This the DOA that was called in a few minutes ago?" He asked officially to the EMT at her dad's feet.

"Yeah," the woman answered instead of giving her partner the chance to speak. "We've just been bagging him until a doctor could call it."

Claire had grown up with a mother for a doctor and continuous seasons of _Grey's Anatomy_ on every Thursday night while Quil was on patrol. She knew enough medical jargon to know exactly what they were saying. She felt somehow frozen. Completely trapped inside her own body, and yet somehow having an out of body experience as she sat ignored, waiting for her turned to get out of the ambulance as she watched Dr. Montgomery sigh heavily while he placed his fingers under her father's jaw, clearly look for a pulse before looking at his watch and announcing officially,

"Time of death; 10:34 pm."

Claire heard the gasp that came out of her lips in response, but she didn't realize it was from her until Dr. Montgomery's head snapped up to realize she was there. He immediately looked back at the man lying lifeless on the gurney before looking back at Claire.

"Oh shit! Does he belong to you!?"

Claire just nodded helplessly in response as her eyes pooled with tears that wouldn't shed for the very first of many times that evening.

"You're dad?" He asked in a sympathetic voice while the rest of the medical staff seemed to shuffle around like they were uncomfortable by the situation.

"What happened?" Claire asked in shock as her only response. "I went on my first date with my boyfriend. That was it. I left to go on my first date with the guy I've been dating for months and I come back, and he was…. He's…. Dr. Montgomery… I don't understand….." she admitted helplessly.

Claire thought she saw a spark of recognition in his eyes when she addressed him by name before he held out his hand to help her out of the ambulance and said, "Here. You better come with me. Let's see if we can't get you a cup of coffee."

She had gratefully accepted his hand and climbed down out of the ambulance but somehow couldn't seem to make herself drop his hand again as she followed him while he walked back toward the emergency room doors of the hospital, allowing her to tow along behind him while she looked back at her father lying on the gurney in front of the ambulance still.

She hated herself for it, but she was relieved to walk away from the lifeless form that she couldn't seem to reconcile as her father. It was too alien. His body felt like a stranger she didn't know, and she felt uncomfortable staying close beside it while she felt like she should somehow be out searching for what was really her father…. because the corpse behind her wasn't the man that had taught her how to make pancakes, or how to hold a baby in the hospital the day Jamie was born.

"Doctor, what are we supposed to do with his body? The hospital can't take responsibility for him if he didn't actually die here." A nurse standing beside the gurney said in an agitated voice as he continued to walk away with Claire's hand still incased in his.

Dr. Montgomery turned back to give the nurse a look of disdain before he responded calmly, "Place him in an exam room until arrangements can be made. Surely a medical degree isn't required to come to that conclusion."

Claire smiled at his reply despite herself as he led her quietly down several hallways before opening a door to a room that seemed to be off to the side and out of the way. She followed him in as she noticed the sign by the door labeling the room, 'Family Convalesce Room'. She was expecting to find some form of recovery room but instead walked into what looked like a smaller version of a waiting room but instead of a tv against the wall there was a table with disposable cups and a vending machine that dispensed coffee and tea.

Claire sat down when she walked in since that was the only logical thing she could assume she was supposed to do and she had finally gained enough awareness of herself to be embarrassed that she was still holding the doctor's hand.

She heard the doctor sigh and looked back up to see him digging through his pocket as he evaluated her.

"It's Claire, right?" He asked kindly as he pulled what looked like a handful of change out of his pocket.

Claire nodded her head since she felt too shocked to speak at all again.

"I think I'm due for a coffee break about now…can I get you anything? Coffee, tea?" He said, while speaking softly like he was simply musing at the prospect.

It took Claire a second to answer. Her brain seemed to be working unusually slowly and it took her awhile to process the question.

"Tea." She replied, and he nodded as he made his way to the vending machine and started pushing coins into the slot.

"Sorry I didn't recognize you at first. I'm usually very good at remembering my patients but to be fair you weren't blonde the last time I saw you." He said as he filled cups from the machine.

Claire looked down at the ombréd ends of her hair that were still blonde even if the top of her hair was even more of her dark natural color than when she'd had it done months before. She didn't know how to respond so she didn't say anything, even when he handed her a cup filled with what was obviously hot tea along with a few packets of sugar and a stirring stick. It didn't even occur to her to thank him.

"So, Claire, do you think you could tell me what happened tonight? You said your father was fine when you left on your date, what time was that do you think?" He asked in a kind but still official manner as he took a seat across from her and crossed his legs like he was trying to get comfortable.

Claire nodded as her eyes filled again and then seemed to dry almost immediately. "He _was_ fine. I know he was. He was all excited taking pictures of my sister and her boyfriend leaving for senior prom. I left a little before six, right after my sister left. He was fine. He was fine." She kept repeating and dr. Montgomery nodded his head as if to assure her that he fully believed her.

"So, what changed? What happened when you got home?" He asked speculatively.

After Claire described to him the scene she had walked into when she walked into the kitchen after saying goodnight to Quil and found Jamie lying overtop of her father, crying as he begged him hopelessly to wake up, she went on to tell him how Quil had performed CPR while she called 911 and then waited for the EMTs to arrive.

"What happened?" Claire asked and didn't recognize the sound of her own voice. It had never sounded so broken before. "What could have killed him?"

She was surprised with how easily she had said the word 'killed', she would have expected herself to shy away from anything that acknowledged the permanency of her father's condition, but found that as shocked as she was, it was simply true; her father was dead and she knew it every time she thought about how different his lifeless corpse looked compared to the real him.

"We don't know yet. There's no way to say for sure but we can always perform an autopsy to find out what it was exactly." He replied officially, and Claire appreciated how quickly he was answering her desperately asked questions.

"You have to have some idea though. You're a freaking neurosurgeon, I don't know anyone that's as educated as you are! You have to have some idea! It could take weeks to get the results of an autopsy back." She replied a little desperately as she stirred the tea that sat untouched and cold in her cup.

"I don't know, Claire. It could literally be dozens of things; heart failure and cardiac arrest to start with…." He said quickly like he was trying to worm out of answering before he looked at her face and must have seen something that compelled him because he sighed and leaned forward and said, " _But_ from the way you described finding him, like he just dropped to the floor suddenly, my top guess right now would be some kind of brain bleed; a massive stroke or an aneurysm…"

Claire bit her lip and felt her eyes fill again with the tears she couldn't release as she nodded her head, grateful at least for some explanation. Her voice shook, and she still couldn't recognize it as she asked the question she was afraid to have answered,

"How long would something like that have taken to kill him?... If I had been there could I hav-"

Dr. Montgomery cut her off before she could even finish her question.

"No. Something like that would more likely than not kill him within seconds. You couldn't have done anything, Claire."

She blew out a sigh of relief as she nodded her head and took her first sip of the cold tea in her hand that she had never bothered to sweeten. It was predictably disgusting. There was a rather sharp knock on the door and they both looked up just as the door opened to a gruff looking middle-aged police officer barging his way into the room.

"You're the family of Robert Young?" He asked speaking directly to Claire in a voice that seemed loud enough to alert the entire first floor of the hospital compared to the soft tones she and Dr. Montgomery had been using.

"Yes. I'm his daughter." She replied while still using a softer tone of voice.

"I have some questions for you about his death." The cop replied as he made his way in uninvited.

Claire felt like he had slapped her with his insensitive statement as she looked back at Dr. Montgomery hoping for assistance.

"Is that really necessary right now? She's a minor here without a guardian." He stepped in to say while sounding annoyed.

"Just doing my job. Need to make sure he didn't die under suspicious circumstances." He replied sounding unfazed.

"You think someone would try to kill my dad?" Claire asked in shock and heard the way her voice went unusually high and shrill at the end.

He shrugged like he wasn't concerned one or the other. "Just my job to make sure he wasn't."

He sat down abruptly in the chair next to Dr. Montgomery and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen as he got settled before looking up at Claire like he was giving her his full attention and asking, "Can you think of anyone that would have liked to hurt your father?"

Claire shook her head in stunned disbelief before looking at Dr. Montgomery assuming he'd think this cop was as crazy as she did. He simply tilted his head and shrugged before nodding to encourage her to answer his questions like maybe that would make him go away.

"He was a history professor at a community college. Who would ever want to hurt him?" She replied in answer.

The cop shrugged unperturbed before saying, "Was he a well-liked professor? Did the students seem to have grudges against him?"

"No." Claire answered confidently, "He had like six hot peppers on . All his students love him."

She caught Dr. Montgomery's smile in response to that fact before the cop fired off his next immediate theory, "A spurned lover then maybe? Any reason to ever think he might be having an affair? Or perhaps rejecting the offers for them…."

"No." Claire answered certainly, trying to push her disgusted discomfort aside. "Honestly he worked less than twenty hours a week on campus. The rest of the time he was home with us kids. He spent all his free time taking care of us, especially my five-year-old brother. He never would have even had time for something like that."

The cop gave a condescending sort of chortle before saying, "Oh you'd be surprised what people can get up to when they're creative…"

Claire immediately gave him a look of disdain before looking over in time to catch it mirrored on Dr. Montgomery's face.

.

Dr. Montgomery stayed with her for the next twenty minutes while the police officer continued to fire off a rapid-fire round of questions that seemed to get more ridiculous and farfetched the longer they went on. Finally, the questions ceased when they were interrupted by the same harried nurse from the ambulance bay as she walked through the door without knocking.

"Someone really needs to stay with the body until it's been claimed. The hospital can't be liable for it indefinitely while you take coffee breaks and the rest of us actually treat patients." She insisted sounding more annoyed than before and Claire couldn't stop herself from giving her a look that said exactly how tasteless she found this woman to be.

"Um, in case you haven't noticed, Gretchen, I am with one of my patients." Dr. Montgomery answered sounding unperturbed as he gestured toward Claire in front of him.

" _She's_ one of your patients?" She asked skeptically as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Yes!" Claire replied before the doctor could respond. She was about to release some pent-up frustration after her interview with the cop, that was still sitting unperturbed in front of her, by ripping into the nurse when Dr. Montgomery cut her off before she even got started.

"But I do need to make sure someone has contacted your mother. Is there anyone who can stay with you while you wait for her to get here?"

Claire shook her head as she thought about it. "No. He _was_ my parent that always came when something happened… it's just my mom now."

Dr. Montgomery nodded as the cop suddenly stood up like he was finally uncomfortable with the conversation and edged his way slowly and awkwardly out of the room past the nurse without giving any explanation.

"What about a friend or family member that can come sit with you for a few minutes?" Dr. Montgomery asked insistently.

Claire put her head in her hands as she shook it back and forth in discouragement and said without looking up, "I'll try to call Bennett, I guess… I think he had patrol though…." She realized all of that would be meaningless to him and that she had probably said more than she should have so she hurried to explain more before he could ask about it, "My sister's at prom and my boyfriend is at home with my little brother right now."

"Look, she really needs to be responsible for the body until someone can claim him!" The nurse blurted insistently like she couldn't handle waiting any longer to say something.

"FINE!" Claire snapped at her as she stood up and faced the nurse. "Take me to him. I accept full responsibility for him while I'm here!"

The nurse actually looked relieved in spite of her outburst and immediately moved out the door while gesturing for Claire to follow. Claire put a hand on the purse still strung across her body as she moved to walk out behind her and felt Dr. Montgomery's hand on her shoulder. She turned to see he had stood to follow her out the door.

"Call that friend, Claire. You probably shouldn't be alone right now." He said seriously like he really was treating her as a patient. "I'm so sorry for your loss." He continued sincerely.

She nodded her head as her eyes again filled with tears that just refused to fall. "Thanks." She muttered before she turned around and hurried to follow the nurse that was probably already on her way back to drag her out.

That was how she had ended up finding herself alone in a hallway, sitting on an uncomfortable chair and guarding the door that led to a dark exam room. She had tried to call Bennett, but it had rung a few times and then gone to voicemail. She hadn't left a message. She had tried to call her mom at least five times but each time it had gone straight to voicemail. She had even tried to call Rachel but gave up quickly when she didn't answer on Claire's first attempt to contact her. By the time she had sat down in the only semi lit hallway she had four unread texts from Quil all asking how she was doing and instructing her to call him as soon as possible.

None of his messages asked how her dad was doing and she knew that he knew her father was already gone. She finally blew a breath and felt the sixth round of unshed tears in her eyes while she pressed call and then felt her eyes miraculously dry again before the line even rang.

It rang twice before he picked up with a harried but quiet, "Claire!?"

She nodded her head in response before she remembered that he couldn't see her. She nodded her head again anyways and spoke softly, thankful that he had already spoken in a quiet tone, "It's me, Quil."

She could hear him swallow in response and she could almost see him as she pictured him standing in the living room pacing and running a hand through his hair as he held the phone to his ear. He was silent for a few moments and had to swallow a few more times before he spoke again, and his voice sounded strained, "Where are you?"

"Still at the hospital. I have to guard my dad's body until my mom can come and claim him so that the hospital isn't liable for him." Her voice cracked at the end and suddenly the tears finally started to escape from her eyes. They now streamed unrelenting yet silently down her cheeks.

"Your mom's not there yet!?" He asked sounding shocked and frustrated.

"No. Why? Have you heard from her?" Claire asked surprised as she sniffed at her nose that was now running too.

"I talked to her an hour ago, she should be there by now." He said sounding annoyed.

The tone of frustration in his voice suddenly put Claire over the edge as the realization finally set in that the most reliable person Claire had ever had in her entire life, the person that probably loved her more than anyone else (except for probably Quil), the parent that would have been there by now so that she wouldn't have to sit alone in a dark hallway… was gone.

She leaned forward and covered her mouth with her free hand as she tried to muffle the gasp that escaped just before she was racked with heavy sobs. She leaned against the skirt of her dress pressed flat against her leg as she started panting irrationally into the phone while trying to catch her breath between sobs.

Quil was silent on the other end of the phone while she cried, and she knew that there was nothing he could say. He waited until she was quiet enough to at least hear him over the sound of her own sobs before he said simply, "I'm waking Jamie up. We'll be there with you in fifteen minutes, okay?"

She had been about to refuse him when she suddenly heard her mom's concerned voice calling her name from down the hall.

"My mom's here!" She said with relief to him. "Don't bring Jamie down here. I'll call you as soon as we're on the way home. I love you."

She heard Quil's frustrated sigh on the other end of the phone before her mom suddenly appeared in front of her and Claire unintentionally hung up the phone as she pulled it down her face.

"Claire! What happened? Are they treating you? Why are you down here in a dark hallway instead of an ER bed!?"

"Mom?" Claire asked shocked and confused because though the woman in front of her was clearly her mother she had never seen her look like this before.

It was hard to say what specifically made the biggest difference since besides the insanely dilated pupils and the wild look in her eyes, Claire couldn't put her finger on any specific difference in her appearance. It seemed her overall demeanor had just changed drastically.

"Claire, what's going on!?" She asked in a tone that was somewhere between frantic and accusatory.

"Mom, are you…. on something!?" Claire asked in shocked disbelief.

Dr. Susan Young blinked her eyes in very quick succession as she looked ever so slightly up at Claire who was now an inch or so taller than she was.

"Wha-…. Never would I- …who told you that!? Why would you say something like that!? Those are nasty rumors with no merit to them!" Her mother stuttered to her in the hallway in front of the door to the room where Claire briefly remembered her father's body lay. "Stop trying to distract me, Claire! Why are you here!? Why did they call me down here? What did you do?"

Claire's eyes filled with tears again, this time so quickly that they started pouring down her cheeks before she even realized it. She felt like her heart was literally breaking and she was suddenly filled with hate. Not for her mother in front of her (which at the moment she would have felt was justified) but for herself when she realized how much she wished that the parent in front of her was the one lying dead behind her while her dad sat in the hallway next to her, and she despised herself for wishing her own mother dead.

"Mom….." Claire stuttered in a broken voice as she barely took the time to wipe at the steady stream of tears pouring out of her. "It's Dad…."

"Dad? What about dad? Why didn't he just call me? What is going on, Claire? I was in the middle of something you know…. I was with a patient…" she fumbled quickly like there was any chance Claire would actually believe that. "Yes, I was with a patient."

Claire groaned as she covered her face just briefly with her hands before pulling them up through her hair.

"GAHH Mom! I cannot believe you're high right now!" Claire muttered more to herself than to her mom who she doubted was even computing what she was saying.

"Who told you I was high!?" She asked in a hush conspiratorial tone.

"Mom, Dad's dead!" Claire said so loudly she was almost yelling. She choked on a sob as soon as she got it out.

How could he just be gone like this?

"Where are your keys? You can't drive while you're stoned." Claire managed to pull back her emotions enough to get out clearly and efficiently. She suddenly had a plan and as long as she was executing that plan then her whole world wouldn't feel like it was crumbling down around her.

"What?" Susan asked sounding confused.

Claire didn't hesitate before shoving her hand down her mother's purse and immediately finding her keys in the inside side pocket where she always kept them. She was walking away down the dim hallway before her hand was even completely out of the bag.

"Keep your phone on!" Claire barked over her shoulder without ever looking back. She turned back to look where she was going just in time to stop herself from walking square into Dr. Montgomery who was walking toward them and stopped in the middle of saying,

"Dr. Young! I apologize that no one has spoken to you yet about your husband- …. Claire!?" He asked confused and reaching out a comforting hand to grip her shoulder.

Claire just dodged it and didn't respond as she moved around him while wiping at the tears on her face that hadn't ebbed in the slightest. It was like a faucet had started and she didn't know if she even wanted to turn the nob to dial it back. She moved past Dr. Montgomery before she started running down the hallway and past exams room to get to the parking lot and find her mother's car.

Her only plan now was to find Rachel. She had to find Rachel and tell her what had happened. After that, the only thing she knew was that they needed to be together as a family. Maybe she'd bring all the bedding in the house downstairs to the living room so that they could build a fort and she, Quil, Jamie and Rachel could huddle deep inside and hold onto each other while they slept the night away before waking up in the morning and figuring out what needed to be done. Claire figured she would have to figure out how to call her father's lawyer but first; she needed to find Rachel.

She told it to herself over and over again like it was her new mantra as she finally made it to the glass double doors that led to the parking lot and got her first glimpse of her reflections in the glass against the dark night behind them. She was still wearing the black printed sundress she had bought specifically for her date with Quil and she could see at least an inch of his black boxer-briefs that was her only underwear hanging out of her skirt as she moved through the doors and started pushing the buttons on the key remote in her hand until her mother's car chirped to her right.

She ran a hand through her tangled hair as she ran toward the car that was her only salvation and way out of here. Only a few hours ago, she was lying in the warm embrace of Quil's arms feeling the contact of his skin against hers in what was unequivocally the best night…. best moment … of her entire life. How had it turned into such a nightmare?

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 **6 DAYS LATER:**

Claire felt her heart pounding frantically in her chest as she pulled her robe over her wet body tighter around her chest and pressed her palm over her heart. She wondered vaguely how she could still feel so numb while it pounded so hard against her skin. She was standing in front of her closet just fresh out of the shower and knew she needed to be getting ready but couldn't quite force herself to care enough to actually do it. She looked up when she heard the familiar squeak of her bed door opening and Quil stepped in wearing a black suit and tie with a white dress shirt. She hadn't seen him dressed like that since his grandpa Quil's funeral. The thought made her swallow and she looked up at his face for the first time to see him with the same unusually serious expression he had been wearing all week.

He didn't say anything for a moment, he just stood at the door staring at Claire while she watched him and noticed how with all the numbness in her brain, she could only wonder what he was thinking instead of knowing the way she usually did. She wondered if she was supposed to say something or greet him somehow when he interrupted her internal monologue by saying,

"Sam and Emily just got here with the kids and the limo's already here."

Claire had to swallow again and clear her throat as she looked back again at the options hanging in her closet. Nothing seemed appropriate for the occasion. She suddenly wished she had had time to go shopping to buy something, but the last six days had seemed to past in six hours spurt of everything moving incredibly too quickly and then seeming to make up for it by moving painfully slowly.

"Is Rachel ready?" She asked as a reply as she started moving her hand through her clothes just to look more productive even though she knew she wasn't going to wear anything inside it.

"Travis just said she was almost ready." He answered, and she could feel his intense evaluating stare on her the same way she had every few moments since she came home the night her dad died.

Last night was the first time he had left her at all and it was a small relief not to feel his constant gaze trying to determine her mental status every few minutes when he went on his first patrol run in a week. Of course, the second she closed her eyes she immediately missed his too warm body pressed against her. It was a long night waiting for him to come home to her but then the second he was in bed beside her and fast asleep less than twenty minutes after getting back (including shower time), she still couldn't sleep then either, just for slightly different reasons.

"My mom?"

She stopped pretending to be busy to look up at him as she asked and saw his slightly uncomfortable look as he squirmed enough to put his hands in his suit pants pockets before he shook his head.

"She's meeting us there."

"She decided not to ride with the procession?"

Claire would have been surprised by how calm her voice sounded when inside her mind she was envisioning smashing a ceramic vase over her mother's head except that had been the only tone her voice had seemed to manage all week.

Quil merely shrugged in response and Claire could see his eyes visually digging into her as he did his now usual evaluation of her. She knew he was deeply worried about her and she was trying to put his mind at ease every chance she could, she just couldn't seem to cross the disconnect that was her grief and pain within her and her outward reactions. She hadn't even cried since the moment she had stepped out of her mom's car in front of the reservation casino and marched inside the ballroom in search of Rachel.

"Okay. I'll be ready in just a minute." She said with her voice still dead instead of reassuring like she had meant it to be.

Quil nodded and swallowed before he looked away like he had finished his inspection of her. She wasn't sure what he had found. But he looked at the floor by her bed as he cleared his throat and said,

"Jake just texted me. He and Renesmee just landed in Seattle. They won't make it in time for the graveside service, but they'll be here for the wake."

Claire simply nodded her head and hoped that actively conveyed her appreciation since she had given up on trying to piece any inflection into her voice.

"We'll be downstairs whenever you're ready." He said assuringly as she looked back at her closet again and sighed softly. She could feel his eyes against her again, clearly evaluating her again as he opened the door and moved to leave.

"Quil?" She called softly before he could get too far.

"Yeah?" He asked in what sounded more like a sigh as he poked his head back in the door. Claire was surprised by how tired he seemed especially for someone who had been sleeping as heavily as he had been the last few days.

"You look really nice." She said simply and wished for about the thousandth time that she could make herself express any emotion.

He gave her a half a smile in response before he nodded his head in appreciation and left closing the door softly behind him. The second he was gone Claire moved away from the useless closet and dropped to the floor so that she could reach under her bed. She quickly found the shopping bag she was looking for and pulled it out as she stood back up again and tossed it on the bed. She pulled out the dress that was in it with the tags still on and the receipt pressed against it, ready to be returned like she had planned to do.

She held it by its straps as she looked at the real life little black dress, she had bought with the dress she had actually worn on her date. She hadn't know exactly what would happen that night, but she had known exactly what she _wanted_ to happen, and she had come prepared. In the end she had chickened out and decided that obvious sexy wasn't going to be as effective as girl-next-door sexy and worn the sundress. But looking through her options now it was clear that this dress was the only plain black thing she had to wear besides a pair of skinny jeans that clearly weren't going to cut it. Letting out a small sigh, she quickly yanked the tags off as she spoke aloud to herself,

"Yet another occasion a strapless bra would come in handy."

She left the dress on the bed as she quickly dropped her wet robe and pulled on the simple black lace thong underwear that was a must since a panty line at your dad's funeral didn't seem to scream classy….. then again, the low cut, V-neck spaghetti strap, singe at the waist and then flow lightly to mid-thigh number probably wasn't the classiest thing she could have worn either, so…

She especially thought it as she pulled it on over her mostly naked and still slightly wet body, braless and zipped it up as she made a mental note to never bend more than a single inch forward unless she wanted to give every mourner a view they were sure to remember for years to come.

She didn't bother looking in the full-length mirror behind her door as she moved to the closet and bent down to grab her black heels. She looked down at herself as she did and saw clear to her belly button. It wasn't so much a peep as an entire show.

She rolled her eyes at the situation as she slid her feet into the appropriately classy shoes, she knew would be killing her feet within an hour and moved to the bathroom. She blew a breath of relief when she looked in the mirror and saw that her one saving grace was that her hair was mostly dry and that the slight natural wave in it looked like it was intentionally done and not just a frizzed-out mess like she was expecting. The one thing she hated about it as she left it parted and pulled the front and sides back into a twirled bun at the crown of her head, leaving the rest of the waves down around her shoulders, was the blonde ombré ends that started at around her ears. She wished she had thought to dye it back to its natural brown so dark it was almost black color. The blonde seemed too fun and summery for such an occasion. There wasn't anything she could do about it now though since everyone was already waiting on her, so she tucked the ends back behind her shoulders and tried not to look at it. Her dad had teased her about dying her hair asking her why she would want to look like so many of the white sorority girls he taught...

The thought made her smile as she applied copious amounts of deodorant and then added a spritz of perfume. She had never known that it was possible to miss someone so much it made you physically hurt.

She wiped at the single tear that had escaped from her eye as she looked at her face and quickly calculated the amount of makeup she would need to apply to look presentable, she quickly gave up when she noticed the dark circles under her eyes and the unusually pale parlor to her skin. With her luck it'd take her another hour to perfect her makeup and the second she got to the cemetery she'd probably end up bursting into tears and ruining it all anyways.

Knowing that there was a room full of people downstairs waiting for her she simply applied some blistex to her already dry lips and a moisturizer to her bare face before calling it good and walking out of her bathroom and past the mirror without stopping.

She was halfway down the stairs when she realized the room of people chattering quietly below her had suddenly gone silent as they all stopped to stare at her as she walked down. She took another step down the stairs and heard the loud echo of her heel as she searched around the room full of Uley's, her Aunt Tami, Rachel and Travis, Jamie, Butch and then finally settled on Quil as she tried to get a read of the room and why she had its full and undivided attention. She couldn't read the look on Quil's face when he tilted his head as he looked back at her and shook it slightly before he shrugged and gave a half smile in a gesture that reminded her distinctly of Jim from _The Office._

The awkward silence continued to press against her, making her feel like she couldn't breath as every step she took forward continued to echo around her until Jamie kindly offered to explain it to her by spouting loudly, "Why are you going dressed like a hooker?"

There was a slight smacking sound as Rachel's hand came down on top of Jamie's mouth before he could say anything else and Sam Junior snorted a laugh loudly through his nose just as Travis muttered, "Yeah, but like a really expensive hooker." and Claire heard the wind gush out of his mouth as Rachel's elbow collided with his gut.

She was suddenly grateful for the numbness that seemed to constantly surround her as she looked down at herself and noticed the distinct lack of humiliation she would have expected to feel as she evaluated her attire. Ironically enough her only thought was that she was glad she had chosen to wear the other dress to dinner.

The moment was broken a second later, before Claire could even think of a response, when Emily stepped forward in front of her and said, "Here sweetheart, wear this."

Claire looked up in response to her loving tone even though it was clear from her voice that she had been crying still. In all her life, Claire had never seen Emily cry like she had been crying non-stop since the day she had called her to tell her her only brother was lying dead in a hospital in Treeport.

Emily was shrugging out of the black cardigan she had on over the simple black sleeveless shift dress she was wearing. It wasn't until she held it open in front of Claire that she realized she was telling her to wear it. She obediently slipped her arm into it before turning so that she could pull her other arm through it while Emily held it up for her behind her. It fit snugly, and the sleeves ended right at her elbows.

She turned back around to face Emily and caught the small smile that seemed to communicate that they were like two sisters bonded by their shared grief. It only lasted a second before Emily cleared her throat and asked, "You ready?"

Claire nodded as the rest of the group took that as their signal and started to move to the door. Emily gave both of Claire's arms a reassuring rub and then moved back toward where Sam was waiting with his arm extended toward her. Claire looked up at the shadow that crossed her path to see Quil waiting for her in a similar fashion just without his arm extending. He had both his hands in his pockets and Claire looked down at herself again before looking back up at him and scrunching her face in concern.

"You're beautiful." He said simply, and she could tell he really meant it so she nodded and moved forward where he was waiting behind everyone else to quickly wrap her arms around his waist and felt the sense of relief that came when he rested his arm securely around her with his hand on her lower back.

They didn't say anything else as they left Butch behind and walked out, shutting the door behind them.

.

.

.

 **Quil:**

"How's she holding up man?"

Quil looked away from Claire who he had been staring at from across the room to look up at Jacob as his question registered with him.

"Better than I expected her to. I think today was good for her." He admitted as he looked back at Claire still standing in the line of her family that had been receiving the guests of mourners at her father's wake for the last two and half hours. She had Rachel firmly sandwiched between herself and her mother, but she was speaking quietly with Renesmee and she even had a small yet sincere smile on her face as she engaged with her.

"What do you mean?" Jake asked sounding confused.

Quil shrugged a little as he thought about the graveside service from a few hours earlier and the way Claire had held his hand tightly while she silently cried a small flow of tears the entire time. She had stood firm though and never once covered her face or broken down in sobs.

"I don't know, man. I think she finally got a small form of goodbye. And at least the funeral is finally over. I think she ended up making as many decisions about it as her mom did if not _more_ since her mom just completely shut down and basically refused to do anything for it…. Hey Jake, thanks so much for coming all the way over here for it. I really appreciate it…. I know Claire really appreciates it, even if she can't really show it right now." Quil finished only feeling slightly regretful of the way Claire's emotions seemed to have escaped her almost completely since her father's death.

"No problem, Quil. We wouldn't have missed it when we had the opportunity to come…"

Quil's stomach tightened when Jacob addressed him by name since his Alpha almost never called him his rightful name unless he was being unusually serious about something.

"Yeah, just as long as Nessie doesn't start turning a whole new generation of adolescents into wolves." He quipped to try to shake the feeling.

"Naw." Jake said unconcerned. "Once Ty turned, I figured there was really no way Ness could have been what set Bennett off. Clearly, there's still enough bloodsucker presence to set them off on their own."

Quil just nodded absentmindedly as he watched Claire give a small, surprised chuckle before leaning forward to wrap her arms around Renesmee in what was clearly an appreciative embrace. It looked like Claire was saying goodbye to her but with so many different voices in the room Quil couldn't make out their conversation clearly from where he was standing.

"So how are you doing with it?" Jake asked in his same serious tone that made Quil feel so nervous and off kilter. He wished Jake would just shove at him and try to bet who could bench-press the most sets of 500 lbs. That would feel normal finally.

"What do you mean?" Quil sighed as he continued to watch Claire while she moved on from Renesmee to speak to her Aunt Tami who was speaking in an emphatic sort of way that he was worried would only upset Claire who kept nodding her head along in agreement.

"I mean, how are you _doing_ …. Your father-in-law just died, dude… in some ways you probably knew him better than she did... you knew him as an adult, a person, for years. She just knew him as _Dad_ …. You were pretty close with him, right? You guys were friends?" Jacob said, pressing him for input as Renesmee came up beside him to join them.

Quil's stomach tightened again, this time to the point of nausea the same way it did now anytime he ever thought about Robert at all. He felt himself breakout in what was quickly becoming a familiar sweat and his heart rate kick up nervously in response. He saw from the look on Jake's face that he didn't miss his physical reactions.

"Yeah, I did know him…. He _was_ my friend." Quil said quietly though his voice still broke on the word 'friend'.  
He had looked away to continue watching Claire again but looked back up when he felt Jacob's hand land supportively on his shoulder and caught the gleam of tears in Renesmee's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Quil. I can't imagine." Jacob said sympathetically and Quil's stomach immediately clenched in response so that for a split second he worried he was going to puke all over the both of them.

He looked up in time to see Jacob's confused but shrewd expression as he suddenly squeezed his shoulder tighter than was strictly comfortable and said without breaking eye contact with him,

"Hey, Ness, we're gonna go outside to get some air… Would you mind finding us something to drink?"

Quil heard the sound of Renesmee's emotional sniff before she cleared her throat and said, "Yeah, what would you like, Quil?"

Jacob answered before Quil could which was fine because speaking didn't seem like such a great answer when he was still in such danger of entirely losing his lunch he'd eaten an hour before.

"Gin. Or bourbon. Anything you can find, babe will be fine."

"Okay….." Renesmee answered sounding slightly suspicious before she moved away and then Jacob was immediately using his grip on Quil's shoulder to forcefully spin him around and then push him out the back door so that in less than thirty seconds they were suddenly in the much quieter and private back yard. Quil being so large and supernaturally strong was not used to being manhandled but didn't even try to fight against Jacob as he forced him out the door.

"Okay, what the hell is going on with you?" Jake immediately asked in what was more an accusation than anything else.

"What do you mean?" Quil said in what was clearly less than an even halfhearted attempt to play it off. His hands were already visibly shaking, and he couldn't make eye contact.

"Why are you reacting so weird? Did something happen before Robert died, or something?" Jake asked perceptively.

Quil just let out a sarcastic laugh before he swallowed and then threw his hands up in the air in exasperation before using them to pull down sharply at his hair starting at his hairline and pulling all the way to his neck.

"I can't believe he's gone! He's gone, and he'd totally kill me if he was here alive! He'd expect _ME_ to kill me if he knew he was going to die when he did!" Quil spewed quickly and felt an immediate sense of relief at getting it off his chest.

Jacob just shook his head in confusion before saying, "Wait. What does that even mean?"

"Robert. He trusted me, man. He always trusted me with Claire… even when he probably shouldn't have… all these years. Since she was _two._ He _trusted_ me with her! Always told me to take care of her. Said he worried about her less knowing that I was always looking out for her!" Quil started speaking faster and faster the more he said.

"Okay….. So, what's the problem? You never did anything to betray his trust. He may be gone but you're still here to look out for her. He'd appreciate that." Jacob answered reasonably.

Quil snorted in response as he brought his hands from behind his neck and placed them directly on top of his head while turning away from him.

"What? Did you do something to betray his trust or something?" He asked skeptically in response to Quil's uncharacteristic dramatics.

"Uh yeah- I'd definitely say I did." Quil replied immediately without looking back.

"…..Okay. What did you do?"

Quil felt his gut clench again as he closed his eyes and tried to breathe through the nausea. For the briefest of seconds, he had a single mental picture pop into his mind. It was the same picture that kept coming to him at odd times. It was the memory of Claire beneath him, her hair fanned out around her and her necklace with both their initials lying flat on her chest, the only thing to obscure her smooth skin, the lines he followed up her neck to the view of her teeth lightly pressing down on her bottom lip in a move so soft he doubted she even knew she was doing it. But mostly her eyes. Her soft brown eyes that were almost glowing in their color that looked like a mix of caramel and chocolate and were staring directly into his… no, that were staring directly into his soul. It was like she could see directly into him. It made him want to reach out and grab the moment, but the image was completely shattered as Jacob grabbed at his shoulder again and yanked him forcefully around to face him.

"Quil, what did you do?" He said seriously in what was obviously a worried tone and Quil's stomach immediately tightened again in response.

"I touched her, man." He admitted immediately. It felt like almost pure relief to come clean and admit it. Except that as sweet as the relief was to admit the underlying truth that he had still committed the crime lay unmoving like a rock in his stomach. "The night Robert died, I touched Claire."

He saw the variety of emotions playing out across Jacob's face, from confusion, to frustration and anger to finally disgust.

"You touched her?" He said so quietly it would almost sound calm if it weren't for the fact it came out as a growl.

Quil simply nodded as he rubbed his hand roughly across his face before looking back up and admitting, "Yeah, man, I did."

"Wait." Jacob said suddenly like something had just occurred to him, "You _touched_ her, or you fooled around with her that night her dad died?"

Quil just looked up at his best friend in exasperation before shrugging and saying in obvious annoyance, "I don't know! Both! What's the difference!?"

To his surprise Jacob actually chucked before saying, "Uh, one implies consent and the other doesn't…"

"What!?" Quil immediately asked in frustration before his emotions got the best of him and he shoved at Jacob's chest hard enough to make him take a step back away from him. "No, man! What the hell's the matter with you!?"

"So, you're saying you never forced anything on her?" Jacob asked calmly.

"Shut up, Asshole!" Quil said, too frustrated and angry to even answer such a question.

"You didn't pressure her or touch her at all without permission then either?" He continued on in his same annoyingly calm tone.

"Seriously, shut the hell up or I'm going to end up decking you." Quil said as his shaking increased and his hands balled into painfully tight fists.

"Okay, Quil. Then I need you to tell me what _exactly_ it is you did with Claire to betray her dad's trust." Jacob said with a slight hint of a threat in his voice as he stepped up toe to toe with Quil and looked down the two to three inches he had on him.

"I had sex with her, okay!?" Quil immediately said loud enough that he had to take a step back and look around to make sure that they were still alone in the yard and no one had overheard his outburst. "The night Robert died, we weren't there because I was deflowering his _sixteen-year-old_ daughter! Got it!? Happy now?" Quil fumed and then reached up to shove again at Jacob's chest because he was so frustrated, he couldn't stand the proximity and needed the release.

"And it was consensual?" Jacob said calmly like that was the only part of the circumstances he cared about and suddenly Quil felt completely deflated since it was obvious Jacob couldn't understand what he was going through.

He collapsed down to sit on the ground on the patio at the edge of the grass beneath him as he groaned and put his face in his hands again.

"Of course it was consensual." He muttered, defeat clear in his voice and he felt Jake move to sit down next to him before he spoke again.

"Was Claire upset about it?... You know… after it happened?"

Quil shook his head as he dragged his hands back down to clear his face, "No, man. She seemed really happy, honestly."

He felt more than saw Jake's shrug beside him before he replied, "Then I guess I just really don't see the problem."

Quil immediately turned to look at him like he was the giant idiot that he clearly must be to not see a problem. The fire of frustration quickly burned out of him leaving only the heavy pit the size of a rock in his gut and he shook his head at him before muttering, "You just don't get it, man. What if it was you?"

"It _was_ me." Jacob answered immediately and Quil quickly turned to look back at him as he continued, "It was me with Edward. Having sex with his six-year-old daughter. I get it, Quil."

Quil's stomach loosened as he felt the hope that accompanied the idea that maybe Jacob did know what he was feeling and how he could help him fix it, "What happened!? How'd you work it out with Edward!?" He immediately asked.

"Well…" Jacob quickly hemmed, "We were already married since Ness made us wait, so he couldn't really say anything about it….."

Quil groaned and immediately threw his hands back over his face at the mention of marriage. Jacob clearly didn't get it.

"Look, man, it's not that big a deal. She's your imprint. Robert understood that." Jacob said reassuringly.

Quil suddenly stood up on the patio surprising both of them at his sudden movement. Somehow Jacob's reassurance had been exactly what he needed to hear to make up his mind and know he wasn't the person he needed to talk to rectify this situation.

"Quil?" Jake asked obviously concerned.

"I need to check on Claire. I don't think she's eaten anything at all today." He answered quickly as he turned himself away back towards the house.

"Alright, man." Jake sighed, sounding resigned and Quil was already to the door when he ran into Renesmee coming out to give him his drink.

"Sorry, Quil, this was all I could fine… I don't know how much of a vodka man you are…" she said regretfully.

"Thanks, Ness." Quil said appreciatively as he leaned down and quickly pressed a kiss to her cheek as he took the glass with the two finger shot of vodka in it.

He didn't say anything else as he made his way into the house filled with what seemed like total strangers and threw back the shot in a single sickly-sweet burning gulp. He could see Claire, only a few feet from the spot she had been pinned to all afternoon and made his way to her through the crowd. He felt the pats on his back and words of sympathy from every single member of his pack, both past and present as he made his way to where she was standing next to Bennett who looked like he was standing guard over her while she spoke appreciatively with a woman in her twenties next to a kid that was clearly around Claire's age and look incredibly uncomfortable being there. It wasn't until he got to them that Quil realized the kid looking so uncomfortable was Charlie. He even had a splint cast on the finger that Quil had broken and his nose was all black and blue. The second Quil got there he noticed Charlie immediately slip away out of the corner of his eye, clearly trying to go unnoticed while the woman who was with him turned to give Quil an appreciative glance before following, calling after him.

Quil looked past to focus on Bennett who gave him an appreciative nod before gently squeezing on Claire's forearm and then patting Quil on the back as he walked past muttering that he was going to find his mom.

Finally, Quil looked down to find Claire looking up at him curiously as her hand found its way to her necklace on her exposed collarbone and began pulling lightly on the charms of their initials. Quil leaned down all the way until his mouth was at her ear before he muttered, "You ready to get out of here? Go get something to eat?"

Claire nodded appreciatively as she placed a hand on his upper arm and gave it a squeeze, "Where's Jamie? Did he eat?" She asked back just loud enough for him to hear and he wondered why she felt like she needed to whisper that part of the conversation but then realized after dealing with so many people all day she probably just wanted a moment of privacy.

"Um…" Quil muttered as he scanned around the room looking for Jamie. "There with Butch, sitting on Emily's lap. He's eating a popsicle. "

Claire nodded her head again and then threaded her hand on his arm through it so that she was holding onto him as he lead her swiftly through the crowd, only pausing briefly for Claire to kick off her high heels by the front door and slip on the same sandals she'd worn the night he'd taken her out… the night Robert died.


End file.
